Thousands of Taranaki electricity users have already said goodbye to meter readers and estimated power bills.
Genesis Energy is replacing old electricity meters with new “advanced meters“, which digitally send energy readings straight to the power company.
But the change has not gone without a glitch.
One New Plymouth woman discovered the meter in her rental property was mixed up with someone else’s, so they were paying each other’s power.
The woman was billed $900 when energy usage at her property amounted to $167.
New Plymouth electrician Ivon Hoskin, who investigated the problem, is encouraging people to check the serial numbers on their meters match those on their bills.
“There may be a whole batch of serial numbers up a street that are all wrong,” he said.
Genesis spokesman Richard Gordon said the woman’s problem had been resolved and she had been refunded her overpayment.
Genesis was not aware of any other problems and was still considering whether to cover the woman’s electrician’s bill.
Mr Gordon said 16,217 meters had been installed in Taranaki so far. Customers can track their power usage on the web or by smartphone.
The rollout of the advanced meters began in 2009 and is expected to take five years to complete nationwide.
Kyle Wadsworth is a Witt journalism student
Note: This story was published in the Taranaki Daily News on June 29 2012. It is a reworked version of another story, which could not be published and is available here.
