First check your bill and see if both the previous reading and the
current reading are ACTUAL as opposed to ESTIMATED. I have seen some
pretty odd "estimates" on my bill.

Next, check the "current" reading (not "electrical current", but
current in the sense of "now") on your bill against your actual meter.
I've had the electric company misread a digit several times. If your
meter has rotary dials be sure to read them carefully. On many of them
1/2 the dials are counterclockwise and the other half clockwise.

Also be careful when a "needle" is just about right on a number. When
this happens you have to check the next dial to be sure of what the
reading is. If the next dial is still on 9, then the questionable dial
hasn't reached the number it appears to be "on". Depending on which
dial is misread, that could cause a large change in your bill.

A couple of decades ago I lived alone in a small apartment and wasn't
home much. I received a bill saying I had used 1069 KWH that month. I
checked my previous bills and none were for more than 75 KWH. I called
Con Edison and explained to the woman that the meter reader had
obviously misread the "thousands" digit on the meter.

She asked me if I had an air conditioner. Nope. A fan? "Do you really
think a fan would use 1000 KWH?" I replied. "Well you know that
electric bills are higher in the summer..."

She grudgingly gave me the credit but not without giving me a stern
warning that if the next reading showed I had actually used that power
they would still bill me for it. I didn't worry.

Greg Guarino