Incorrect electricity bills for customers

Hundreds of electricity customers in League City, Galveston, Alvin and the Gulf Coast are receiving inaccurate, inflated electricity bills. One woman called our KPRC 2 Investigates team when her electric company insisted that she pay $2,000 she didn’t owe, or that she had a blackout.

Electricity company evaluates meter readings for months

Texas Public Utilities Commission told investigator Amy Davis that she was aware that Texas, New Mexico authorities had thousands of counters that were not reported. These meters did not send meter readings back to the company so that electric companies could bill their customers correctly. Because of this, Texas New Mexico Power had been evaluating and grossly inflating some meter readings for several months, leading to severe financial hardship for people like Debbie Walters.

“Food, gas, everything is more expensive now, so it was a big success,” said Debbie Walters.

Walters was blown away when her October electricity bill from Gexa was $1,235.80. She called Geksa and received this explanation:

“He told me that they were estimating the previous months and I was paying less than I should have for the previous months and that this bill was catching up with me for the months I was underpaying,” Walters explains.

How could so many meter readings be wrong?

In League City, Texas, New Mexico Power owns all lines, wires, and electricity meters. KPRC 2 Investigates found that at least 10,000 meters relied on AT&T’s 3G network to transmit monthly meter readings back to Texas, New Mexico offices. When AT&T shut down its 3G network last March, TNMP began evaluating meter readings like Walters.

They evaluated her meter readings for four consecutive months: May, June, July, and August. When the company finally shipped the meter reader in September, they billed Walters for all the summer months they underestimated its use.

Walters paid that bill, but the next one was even more expensive—$1,265.

“It was over a thousand dollars and I couldn’t believe my eyes,” she explains.

What’s happened? The Texas New Mexico Power used the previous month’s score to guess the next month and the next month after. Even though Walters went and took a photo of her meter reading to show that it was far below the estimate on her bill, Hexa told her that she had to pay.

“This bill is wrong. I can’t afford to pay this,” she explains. “They kept sending shutdown notices so I paid. I didn’t want my power to be disabled.

When Texas New Mexico Power finally got the next actual reading, Gexa did not refund Walter’s money. Instead, they deposited more than $2,100 into her account.

“The problem was that it was Christmas and I was missing the extra $2,000. And that money is there and I can’t use it.”

Utilities are unable to estimate the amount of reading for more than three months in a row

The Texas Property Code states that companies like Texas New Mexico Power cannot evaluate meter readings for more than three consecutive months, but when we asked the Public Utilities Commission what would happen to a company for violating this rule, they told KPRC 2: “PUC investigates TNMP meter and billing issues and communicates regularly with TNMP about the status of their meter replacement.”

“If they don’t have new meters, they need to be paid for people to come out and read current meters. Either one or the other. They can’t just keep scoring and guessing my score,” Walters said.

Counters are slowly being replaced

A spokesperson for Texas New Mexico Power told KPRC 2 Investigates that it has contracted meter readers to help with meter reading and that the company had fewer than 600 old 3G meters left to replace as of last week. They blame supply chain problems for the nearly 12-month delay.

As for Gexa, the company did not bother to respond to Amy’s letter. But two days after I sent it, Walters returned the full $2,100 she paid. The PUC said that electric companies are not required to return money paid to consumers, which they actually do not owe. So if you get a bill that you think you shouldn’t, call pu-c Customer Protection to report it before you just pay it.

Additional Information for TNMP Clients

Electricity meter upgrade in Texas, New Mexico

Protecting PUC Clients: https://www.puc.texas.gov/consumer/complaint/complaint.aspx

Information about TNMP meters: What you need to know about the new counters