Discussions

Wanted to pass along the note from the link below...  
via Hydro, keep an eye on your summer bill. Because of whats said to be the extreme heat this summer there will be bills that were estimated inaccurately. Would be curious to hear how many might be effected locally....  
 
https://www.hydro.mb.ca/corporate/news_media/news/2018-08-01-manitoba-hydro-working-to-correct-inaccurately-estimated-bills.shtml

Thanks. I did see my hydro bill was so high on my last statement and did contact Hydro billing dept. They went through the meter reading with me.  
Hopefully, I'll see a reduce in my payment on my next invoice.

I called them about my higher hydro bill. We did the reading on the phone and they issued a revised bill the next day. Saved me $40.

I fail to see this as an issue myself but maybe I’m missing something. Here’s why I’m thinking this way:  
 
If my bill is estimated to be 1000 kwh and I’ve only used 500, then the next time they read it and I used 500 more and my meter is now reading 1000 kwh, I would not be billed for anything. All works out in the end, or at least every two months if your meter is read that often.

We had an issue with them several years ago where our bill was 800 more than usual. Quite a shock. Since then, I always read the meter. They put a new one in a year later so never really found out why it was so high.

I am on the budget system so it doesn’t matter if they don’t estimate right. It all works out in the end

RC123 said "I am on the budget system so it doesn’t matter if they don’t estimate right. It all works out in the end "

I still read the meter.  
And on the budget.

Then it won’t affect you either if you read your meter monthly

Is horrible when it comes to estimating your usage. From my experience, they will roughly double last months bill. Your next bill will be stupidly high. Then when you submit your reading the next month, you will hardly have any bill for that month.  
 
It is beyond me why they can't look at your previous usage for that month in the two previous years (of which they have an immediate record) and estimate it based on that.  
 
It all works out in the long run though.

Why not go on the budget plan? You pay the same amount every month and then your new amount is totalled again in September when they look back at your usage over the year?  
 
This way you know exactly what your hydro bill will be every month and no surprises.

I believe the equal monthly payments deal is for natural gas only. I may be wrong though  
 
But my bill is natural gas same monthly all year. My power charge fluctuates with usage....

Is for hydro too.

Is for hydro as well. We do not have natural gas in our house

ZachT said "Is horrible when it comes to estimating your usage. From my experience, they will roughly double last months bill. Your next bill will be stupidly high. Then when you submit your reading the next month, you will hardly have any bill for that month.     It is beyond me why they can't look at your previous usage for that month in the two previous years (of which they have an immediate record) and estimate it based on that.     It all works out in the long run though. "

They had the hydro guy on CBC yesterday talking about this.  
 
The algorhythm they use to estimate weighs several factors, including previous 24-month history and weather during the billing periods.  
 
If they have less then 8 actual readings in the past 24 months for your property (so, a new property, or if you don't do readings on a regular basis and the employee can't access your meters for some reason), the algorhythm puts more emphasis on the weather.  
 
Because it's been the hottest summer in 30 years, the algorhythm actually messed up when it gives extra weight to the weather. Hence, the high billing for some hydro customers.  
 
Moral of the story is to always read your meter, especially if you a new property or there's a history of non-readings (only estimates).  
 
Yeah, it all works out. The sticker shock, however, can be something!! :D

"Most of the customers who experienced the billing glitch were new customers, so Hydro's algorithm would have put more weight on the high temperature, resulting in a some very high bills, Powell said.  
 
"With temperatures being quite a bit higher this year than what we've seen in the last 30 years, it's actually outside the range of what our system would normally accommodate," he said.  
 
"So it puts more weight on that, and automatically drives up the estimates."  
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-hydro-heat-high-bills-1.4770462