Oh no! We just got a $2000 electricity bill!

[~Kim~]

no way.....but I was going to say what nickle said....they could have estimated your last few bills a bit (alright a lot) low and this one was a reading to make up for it.

[~Hestia~]

Yep I'd be ringing them to find out what's going on. I hope it's a mistake!

[Visitor7]

I thought they could only estimate one bill per year?
$2000 is soooo much! I hope there is a mistake somewhere

[thepixie]

We have had 2x 1500+ electricity bills and a $1000 one. We have had 2 electricians come around and say they can't see any reason why our bills are so high. We are 2 adults and a 2 year old, we don't own a dryer, we hardly run the aircon, the only thing we have is an extra fridge but there is no reason why that should make it so high. Origin (our provider) has a high bill investigation service we have only just found this out, so they are currently 'investigating' our most recent bill. Unfortunately they are hopelessly inept and I'm not sure exactly what form this investigation takes. I feel your pain! I know the rates have gone up but this is ridiculous. hope you can find the problem.

[Laranna]

We had a big spike in our electricity bill as well. Whilst it wasn't as high as yours, ours is usually around 300 in the middle of winter. Our recent one was almost $600! Almost doubled. I couldn't work out why because I had not used the dryer or the aircon/heating over the past 2 months whereas the two months prior to that in the middle of winter when I was using those things liberally, our bill was only $330. I rang Synergy and all she said was that my meter could be running fast and that it would cost me $150 for them to come out and test it! Um no thanks. We've been monitoring our meter and it's definitely not running fast. We can't work it out. Must be some conspiracy happening!

[nickle730]

I thought they could only estimate one bill per year?

Nope, they can estimate as many bills as they please. Most providers will do you the 'courtesy' of trying to contact you after 12 continuous months of estimated readings to arrange an actual meter reading. The provider *should* attempt to gain at least one 'actual' reading per year. The onus is on the consumer to check whether the bill is 'actual' or 'estimated' and to contact the supplier should you believe your estimated reading is inaccurate. If you request a 'special' meter reading (ie. not the scheduled reading) in order to clarify whether the estimate is accurate or not, the supplier is entitled to charge you a fee (approx $60 to $100!).

What's more, if your supplier does underestimate your bill, there is no statute of limitation on how long they can chase you for payment. So if you live in a house for 6 years and don't realise you bills are being underestimated for the entire time you live there... the supplier can rightfully bill you for 6 years of their underestimation!! Apparently, it can and does happen.

I am in Vic and this information all comes directly from the Energy Ombudsman in my state - I assume other states are the same. As a consumer, it would seem to me that the rules and regulations are heavily stacked in favour of the supplier!! Don't we pay them to provide a service???

[Footsteps]

in the uk suppliers can only go back one year of charging x

[Muppity]

The bill should have the actual meter reading on it (unless they are estimating like others have said). Check this against what your meter is actually reading. I had a similar problem one and it turned out that the meter reader had mixed up the numbers and written an 83 at the start instead of 38 - made quite a difference. Hope that you can get to the bottom of the problem.