DALLAS — Following hundreds of consumer complaints and concern from the Texas Public Utility Commission, Oncor is now testing its new "smart" meters in side-by-side comparisons in North Texas.
Oncor installed what it likes to call an "advanced" meter on Mark Crosslin's house in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas in early December. Since then, his electric bills went up about $45 to 50 a month.
Crosslin said he hasn't been using power any differently than the year before. All that changed, he says, was the meter,
“It concerned me that we might be over-paying, or may have been getting a nice discount these last few years, but ultimately we just wanted to find the real answer was,” Crosslin said.
So Crosslin let Oncor install an older, mechanical meter similar to the one he previously had along with the smart meter to compare readings side-by-side for a month.
Oncor spokesman Chris Schein said the company wants to be transparent, “We can help set aside some of these concerns by the homeowners and really get to what we believe to be the cause of consumers' high bills,” he said.
Oncor says it believes higher bills could result from customers on expensive rate plans, colder weather, and space heater usage.
But some Oncor customers in North and Central Texas think the meters are inaccurate, and the PUC and State Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) are hearing their complaints.
Anchia said customers just want answers. “People that I represent are concerned about the doubling and the tripling of their electric bill, and I want to get to the bottom of it,” he said.
Oncor has installed 760,000 smart meters. The company says it has yet to find one inaccurately measuring electric usage. Oncor says it will release the test results to all the side-by-side tests weekly, and share them with the PUC and the media.
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