Who can you appeal to if you were incorrectly billed for a utility and the company will not adjust the bill?

Question

I have an unusually high electrical bill for September, a month in which I was cautious in the appliances, fans, etc, that were running for the entire month. Yet still the electical bill is incorrectly high.
I called, and they meter will be reread, but all the same, if I wanted to pursue this further, is there another agency that oversees the operations of utility companies, in the possibility that the meter was misread and the matter won't be resolved by the electic company?

Thanks.

Answer 1

You could try consumer affairs, also on the back of your statement should be a listing of contacts for your area for disputed bills, it will read something to the effect of "call your power company and if you disagree with their assessment then call xxxxxxxxxxxx for further assistance. Also many times power company's will do what is called an estimated reading based on what you have been using and they may have done this prior to your last bill and then when they read the meter realized you had used more than they estimated the one or two months prior. It may go the other way too based on your last two months of readings they estimated this month to be the same and did overcharge you. If you disagree with it do not give up but pay your bill as it states and wait for reimbursement otherwise all your hard work may be sucked up in reconnect fees if they cut off your power.

Answer 2

In California, contact the Public Utilities Commission. They have a procedure to pay the contested bill into an escrow account until the matter is resolved.