To the Editor:
I agree with Mr. Henshaw as he writes in the November 21 Review that BCUC should be making Fortis read our meters, but they don’t seem to care.
On September 21, I wrote to the BCUC to complain that our meters had not been read since May and that Fortis overestimated my June bill by enough that I was charged some useage at the tier two rate that shouldn’t have been, and that all my bills since then have been overestimated. I received a reply from BCUC dated October 1 telling me that they could not tell a company how to run its business, and that any complaints regarding how Fortis runs its business should be directed to Fortis. Their reply also said that Fortis has advised BCUC that they will correct and credit all overcharges after the labour dispute has ended.
You may have noticed the following statement on your Fortis bills: “During labour action your meter won’t be read as usual, but that as a Fortis BC customer, you have the right to read your own meter.”
On September 9, I sent a letter to Fortis with my June, July and August meter readings so they could correct the overbilling on my account. Fortis informed me that during this labour dispute they are not allowed to input any readings. How does this make any sense whatsoever? Interestingly, my last Fortis bill did not include the statement that we are allowed to read our own meters.
I’m not sure how Fortis thinks they will be able to correct our bills, six or more months after the fact, but I would advise everyone to start keeping some sort of record of their power consumption. If not, you may get a very unpleasant surprise once the labour dispute ends.
Bill Copeland, Cawston