The Snohomish County Public Utility District is holding a special meeting Tuesday night to answer customers' questions about skyrocketing bills.
Some customers said they have seen their bills triple after a switch to a new billing system. Snohomish County PUD said it hopes to clear up confusion at the meeting.
After the utility changed from a bimonthly to a monthly billing system last fall, customers including Haley Shapiro, saw their bills spike. Shapiro said her bill went from $80 to $481 in a single month.
Utility officials said they still read the meters every two months and the first month's bill is a customer's actual usage. The next month is an estimate based on the usage of the previous year.
In Shapiro's case, the home in which she's living was vacant last year, so the billing system added up her actual usage over the two months and she received a $481 bill.
"People who have kids and a very strict budget -- that's going to mess up their plans for I don't know how long, because that's a lot of money," Shapiro said.
"I just moved into this home 4-1/2 months ago. How are you judging my bill off somebody else's bill from last year? It makes no sense," Snohomish County PUD customer Kyle Herman said.
A family of five was living in Herman's house a year ago, causing his estimate to be way off. Snohomish PUD said it will credit the difference on his next bill.
Officials said no one is being overcharged and it all works out in the end, with credits for the energy actually used.
After a poorly attended afternoon public meeting about the new billing system, the utility scheduled Tuesday's meeting at the Snohomish County PUD headquarters on California Street in Everett for 6 p.m.
Cox Media Group
