Lubbock Power & Light explains ‘metering mistake’ charging neighbor for wrong electric consumption

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - A meter mix-up left a Lubbock business owner paying for a year of her neighbor’s electricity. Lubbock Power & Light says this situation is rare but possible, especially for customers in a single building with multiple meters.

“I spoke to a representative and emailed them pictures of the meters in the alleyway clearly showing how they were labeled with a meter number and the suite number,” Nicole Black said. “I had been incorrectly billed for my neighbor’s meter.”

According to City of Lubbock Utilities, the building Black had moved into was renovated and split into multiple suites.

“All of the work is going to take place on the developer side with their own electricians, because the point that we cannot cross is the meter itself,” COLU Spokesperson Matt Rose said. “We own the meter but the meter base belongs to whoever owns the building and that’s the legal point of separation.”

Rose told KCBD the process then involves permitting, inspection and tagging, which then allows field crews to install the meter.

“The customer then registers with their accounts,” Rose said. “I’m not entirely sure when the work took place inside of this building. All I know is that it took place before this customer moved in. At the end of the day, when the work order was performed and they put that meter on there, the wiring was crossed.”

According to Rose, this situation usually occurs in buildings like large apartment complexes, housing units or other buildings with banks of meters.

“Sometimes the wiring is crossed and when you find this out, it’s kind of a multi-step process to make sure we put our meter where it needs to go,” Rose said. “On their end, they need to do whatever they need to do to make sure the wiring is correct. It is a situation where it takes conversation between the two parties, because there’s a point where we cannot go past, legally, in terms of getting onto the customer or the owner side of the meter.”

Rose said if you believe you are in a similar situation, monitor your usage and compare it with your natural habits.

“If you ever have a question or a concern that what you’re seeing on your bill is not what registers in your mind with what you’ve used over that month, call City Lubbock Utilities at 775-2509.”