Ken Hitchner received an unexpected letter, seemingly with good news.
It was from PSE&G, saying he was due nearly $500.
The utility company changed his Somerset home’s gas meter in March, and after the swap, it tested the meter.
“I received a PSEG letter dated April 17 that stated the gas meter they inspected/removed was faulty. As a result, the letter said I would receive a credit of $489.27,” Hitchner said.
While some homeowners might take the money and be done with it, Hitchner wanted to know more. But a series of phone calls with PSE&G representatives only yielded more questions.
“During my conversation with the PSE&G rep on April 22, he admitted that it appeared based on the current meter performance that the old meter was double-charging me,” he said. “In other words, the meter was charging me twice as much for usage as opposed to actual consumption.”
The meter had been in the home since 1993, he said he learned.
“If PSE&G performed their responsibility and inspected my gas meter on a regular basis, we would have a better idea when the meter turned faulty. Maybe it was faulty from the installation,” he said. “No one knows.”
Hitchner said he believes he should receive a refund worth half of what he’s been paying for gas since 2002.
“Otherwise, they are making me pay for their faulty equipment and 22-plus years of neglect,” he said.
He wasn’t the only one with a complaint.
About eight miles away, on the other side of Somerset, Thomas Squeri was making a similar calculation.
He bought his home in 2000, and the original gas meter was replaced in 2006, 18 years ago, when the family installed their pool. It was replaced again earlier this year.
He, too, received a letter from PSE&G in April, he said. He was due $650.11, the letter said.
Wanting to understand the calculation, he called the utility.
“When I asked him how long it was running fast he said he didn’t know, but it could have been the whole time I had the meter, which he said was installed in 2006,” Squeri said.
Squeri did some quick math and figured he could have been overcharged by $11,000 since 2006.
They both asked Bamboozled for help.
METER TESTING AND REFUNDS
The state’s administrative code, along with a utility’s tariff — basically, the state-approved fee schedule — lays out how meter errors are calculated.
PSE&G calibrates all meters prior to installation and the utility attempts to test every meter upon removal, said Jane Bergen, PSE&G’s director of billing.
“In accordance with NJAC Title 14, acceptable accuracy for gas and electric meters is from 98% to 102%,” she said. “Meters that test over 102% are referred to the Billing Department for billing review.”
Unless it’s known when the meter became faulty, the credit period is based on what’s detailed in the tariff and the state regulations, Bergen said.
“The calculation is complex and depends on the customer’s specific circ*mstances: the type of meter they have, the last time it was inspected or tested,” Bergen said. “For example, again depending on the customer’s specific circ*mstances, the calculation could be: the credit period is half the time the meter was at the location or since the current customer has been at the location if that is less.”
She noted that the utility replaced almost 1.2 million meters in 2023 and 97% tested accurately. Some of the customers had both gas and electric meters replaced, so the utility said it was unable to give an exact number of customers whose meters were inaccurate or how much money was credited back to customers.
It does not charge extra if a customer was undercharged because a meter was running slow, PSE&G said.
Bergen offered an apology to Hitcher and Squeri, emphasizing that calculations for credits are complicated and specific to each customer’s situation.
Both customers did receive their expected credits on their next statements, and we shared with them what PSE&G had to say.
They didn’t feel any better.
“When I spoke to the agents, they told me there was no way to know how long my meter was running fast, so based on their calculation, they gave me about a year’s credit,” Squeri said.
“Since they had no record of the meter ever being tested after it was installed 18 years ago, I still want them to tell me why it’s only a year’s credit — especially since they highlight that depending on the circ*mstance, they could give a credit for half the time period,” he said.
Hitchner, too, wasn’t satisfied. He said customers pay their utility bills each month because they believe they are accurate.
“In reality, PSE&G and our elected officials have created a special formula that limits any possible damages, such as decades of overcharging state residents,” he said. “Despite the company’s claims of monthly monitoring, the company is not able to tell me when their gas meter started overcharging my family during the last 31 years.”
“But it doesn’t really matter because they have a special formula to address,” he said.
We shared the customers’ thoughts with PSE&G, and it pledged to explain to the two customers the exact calculations for their homes and how they comply with the regulations.
“We need to do a better job explaining that utilities follow state regulations to make the credit calculations,” PSE&G’s Bergen said. “We will ensure our reps have the info they need to explain it and we can provide customers the back up to validate those calculations.”
“We never want anyone to feel Bamboozled,” she said.
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on X at @KPMueller.
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