I am concerned about the fact that BC Hydro is not treating all customers equally. My understanding is that countless people with smart meters are having their meters read manually with no charge to them at all, while those with analogue meters are being charged a service fee.
This is discrimination. I have retained our home’s analogue meter due to safety and the right of privacy, but mostly due to serious health problems – my wife suffered a massive stroke three years ago and now she has developed a seizure disorder. She is permanently disabled.
I am continually pressured and harassed by BC Hydro through letters. I have done nothing to alter my original contract with BC Hydro, yet they are attempting to charge me with an additional fee each month. My account has always been kept up to date over the past decades. Since the introduction of the smart meter, I have consistently paid for usage fees, but my account is now considered overdue by BC Hydro because I have not been paying the legacy meter fees.
According to my records, BC Hydro has not been manually reading my meter since the so called “Legacy Meter Charge” was introduced, so on what grounds are they justifying such discriminatory charge when is already included in the basic charge each month?
Being charged $32.40 each month by BC Hydro for estimating my electricity usage every other month is unreasonable. I should not be pressured or harassed to pay an exorbitant fee for a service that countless people with smart meters – who are also having their meters manually read – are receiving for free.
I am more than willing to read my own analogue meter and phone in the results to BC Hydro. Once a year BC Hydro can send someone to confirm that my information adds up accurately. I am willing to read my own analogue meter and I will not charge BC Hydro a cent.
Ernesto Martinez
