10 times higher bill

[Priit]

I just received my latest gas bill and it is out of this world.

I always enter my own reads, so I have no idea what has gone wrong.

I have been in contact with customer service and according to them everything is correct based on the reading I have provided.

So either something in the billing formula has changed or the meter is wrong, which got changed end of last year by the way. When I look at past bills, every single one of them looks different in terms of factors and multipliers, which does not make any sense at all.

Here is a screenshot of the agl app:

[NeilC]

@Priit

Your usage in MJ is calculated by the formulae:

(End reading - Start reading) * Heating value * Pressure Factor

Heating Value and Pressure Factor are provided by your local gas Distributor - the company responsible for reading your meter and maintaining the pipes in your area. Heating value and pressure factor vary based on local conditions at different geographical locations, such as temperature, pressure and the appliance consuming the gas.

The information for the formulae is provided on the last page of your bill.

The fact that the meter was changed should not come into consideration as you have had at at least one bill since the meter was changed, ( bill 16th Nov to 17th Feb).

Look at the above bill and see what the end reading was.

Compare this with the Start reading on your latest bill they should be identical?.

Check the END reading on the latest bill.

Do the math's from the formulae above and see if the MJ match the last bill.

Go out and check the meter reading now.

If you always do your own meter readings, if the figures are wrong then you have to blame the meter reader.

If the figures are incorrect, then bills in hand, contact AGL and discuss it.

Let us know how you go.

Cheers Neil

PS.

I have a SpreadSheet that I can calculate bills with and using the figures I had set for Heating Value  and Pressure Factor.

Your bill for 16th Nov 19 to 17th Feb 20 calculates that you used about 10 (End-Start) units on your Meter. The readings for June and August show about 75 (End-Start) units used for each quarter.

Your last Bill calculates that you used about 1135 (End-Start) units.

Start	End	Days	Meter Units Used	Meter Units a Day	Mj a Day
18-Feb-20	17-May-20	89	1135	12.7528	504.9213
16-Nov-19	17-Feb-20	93	10	0.1075	3.956989
20-Aug-19	15-Nov-19	87	75	0.8621	34.21839
12-Jun-19	19-Aug-19	68	75	1.1029	42.86765

Your Average for the bills ending in Aug 19 0.8 (units)  and Nov 19 are about 1.1 (units) per day.

For Feb 20 it is 0.1 (units) while May 20 is 12.0. (units)

Two incorrect bills are showing here ONE REALLY LOW and ONE REALLY HIGH.

Don't forget to complain about both of them.

[Priit · Accepted solution]

I already had it sorted.

Apparently the formula for centralized hot water in a block of units is different.

Instead of heating value and pressure factor, a multiplier of 10 and a common factor are used.

You stand correct with two of the bills being wrong. I always suvmitted my own reads in te AGL app and according to the customer service representative, who finally took his time to look into it, said there had been a system error, so the readings did not show up correct.

Both bills have since been corrected and a balance of $200 remained.

Never the less, thanks for your thorough reply.

Priit

[NeilC]

Pritt,

Ahh, learned something today and thanks for the quick reply.

Cheers

Neil