How can I contest the erroneous, way-too-high bills sent to me by my?
This happened to me one time. My apartment energy bill jumped from $30 to $100 to $300 for no apparent reason. When I went to look at the meters I saw mine spinning about 3x faster than any of my neighbors'. With virtually nothing electrical on in my unit. I knew I was getting screwed somehow. After spending hours on the phone and website of my energy company, Xcel Energy, I saw buried on the site that I could have a complimentary audit done. They scheduled a time that worked for me and I asked my landlord to be present for it. The nice woman from Xcel came and walked around with some weird gizmo in her hand that could measure the amount of energy something was generating. The guilty culprit: a hot water heater that was running haywire. Afterwards I asked her for a business card since I fully planned on suing my landlord, if need be, and I would want her to testify. Thankfully I managed to work it out with my landlord and he made everything right financially. You're a paying custumer. Call and tell them you'd like them to send someone out to look at your premesis for an audit. Have your landlord there or someone that has keys to every back room or basement. Budget an hour. And leave no stone unturned. Government agencies are slow and last resort. Worst case scenario this ends up in small claims court. Abnormal utility bills are not what you signed up for as a tenant.