Mary Garziano woke up one morning in late October to see her checking account was in the negative.
By more than $19,000.
She uses paperless billing and automatic deductions from her bank account to pay her PSE&G electric bill for the Kearny apartment she’s called home since 2018.
This time, though, PSE&G withdrew $20,422 from her checking account.
It had to be a mistake, she thought.
“When I spoke to a PSE&G representative. they explained that PSE&G estimated my electric bill for seven years,” she said.
The representative explained the utility finally got an actual reading in August 2024.
“They determined the difference between my actual usage and my estimated costs was $20,447.22,” Garziano said. “As a teacher on a limited income, this bill is unmanageable for me.”
We’ve seen this happen before. If any utility depends on estimated readings only, eventually, the actual usage will be revealed, often leading to surprise bills costing customers thousands of dollars.
While PSE&G has installed nearly 2.3 million smart readers that can be read remotely, some homes, like the one rented by Garziano, still had the old kind of meter that has to be read in-person. That’s easy if the meter is outside. But if the meter is inside the home — Garziano’s is in the basement — there are times when a meter can go unread by a real person for months at a time, if not longer.
State rules require utilities to send notices to customers if estimated readings are used for four months in a row. Utilities must also use “all reasonable means” to get an actual reading, including offering evening and weekend appointments.
Garziano said she never paid attention to any notices that could have been on her bills because she used autopay, and as a renter, she never considered it to be her responsibility to make sure PSE&G employees had access to the meter. She filed a complaint with the Board of Public Utilities, and a few hours later, she got a call from a PSE&G representative, she said.
“She said PSE&G would do their best to work out a payment plan and she would get back to me with the payment plan and reverse the charge,” she said. “She also said it was my responsibility, and PSE&G made considerable effort to reach out to me to have the meter read.”
Garziano explained she was not the homeowner and she did not have regular access to the meter.
“(The representative) said, `Didn’t you look at your bills? Didn’t you see or know they were estimated? You should’ve known,’” Garziano said.
The utility company refunded the money to her bank account but said she still owed the debt.
Gazarino said she spoke to her adult son, who still lives with her. He said he remembered an actual meter reading around March 2022.
“We also looked at the numbers and divided $20,442 by 84 — number of months in seven years — and it was $243.36,” she said, noting she has gas heat but this bill was only for the electric costs, which would include air conditioning, lights and some appliances. “We figured that seemed to be an outrageous amount for just electricity.”
They got access to the basement, took a new photo of the meter and sent it to the utility.
“The customer service agent said based on the current meter, PSE&G made a mistake and I only owe $140,” Gazarino said. “I was relieved and thought that was the end of it.”
But it wasn’t the end of it.
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
A few days later, the PSE&G representative called to arrange a payment plan.
“I told her there was no need because I spoke to a customer service agent that said there was a mistake,” she said. “She said there wasn’t a mistake and she would call me back.”
In the meantime, PSE&G replaced the old meter with a smart meter, and it sent the old one out for testing.
It was found to be accurate, so PSE&G next sent an investigator to make sure none of the lines were crossed and that Gazarino wasn’t being billed for both rental units in the home.
No irregularities were found.
PSE&G, though, made an offer.
“Our Customer Care team is working collaboratively with Ms. Garziano to move to a resolution which includes a long-term payment arrangement to settle her account,” a spokeswoman said.
PSE&G offered to cut the amount owed in half to $10,136 with an eight-year payment plan. That would come to $105 per month on top of bills for current usage.
Garziano remains skeptical of the meter readings.
“My hope is that by sharing my experience, others will be encouraged to request an actual meter reading and verify their energy usage to avoid unexpected charges,” she said. “If you receive a large bill going back for all the years it was estimated, do the research and do not accept the balance given to you by the company.”
“Also, paper billing is best if you are more likely to scrutinize your bills through the mail versus electronic billing,” she said.
PSE&G noted it is able to remotely obtain actual meter readings with smart meters so they can accurately bill customers rather than use estimates.
It recommends customers monitor their bills and usage, and pay close attention to any communications about the account.
You can sign up to get online account access and for “MyAlerts,” which allows you to pay your bill, report and track outages and receive alerts about your account balance, due date and confirmation of payment.
Smart meter or not, you should read your bills and make sure you’re getting actual and not estimated bills, whatever utility you use.
PSE&G said it has installed more than 2.3 million smart meters for New Jersey customers. The meters can be read remotely, it said.Courtesy PSE&G
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on X at @KPMueller.
