What To Do If Your Electric Bill Spikes In Your Apartment

What To Do If Your Electric Bill Spikes In Your Apartment

It can be overwhelming to sit down to look at your bills for your apartment, only to see that you have experienced an enormous electric bill spike. If your electric bill is high in New Jersey, there are several things that you can do.

You can start by taking some practical steps such as checking to make sure that your appliances are not using too much energy and that you keep them unplugged when they are not in use.

In addition, there are some steps that you can take to challenge your utility bill so that you can get a revision of it.

Handling A Sky-High Electric Bill In Apartment

For a sky-high electric bill in apartment, there are a few steps that you can take.

1. You should start by calling the customer service department of your utility company to file a complaint.

2. It may be a good idea for you to take a picture of your meter that has a date and time stamp. This may help you to prove that your meter was read incorrectly, and the company may respond by revising your bill to the correct amount.

3. If the company does not respond adequately to the complaint of your electric bill spike, you may then file a complaint with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

Filing Complaints With The BPU When Your Electric Bill Is High In New Jersey

Under New Jersey law, the Board of Public Utilities is tasked with making sure that New Jersey residents receive adequate utilities at reasonable rates.

If the company failed to resolve your complaint about your electric bill to your satisfaction, you can file a complaint with the BPU.

What If You Think That Your Meter Is Inaccurate?

If you believe that your meter reading does not accurately reflect that amount of energy that you have used, you can ask that a regulated utility company perform a meter accuracy test.

Your utility company must provide you with a test of your meter’s accuracy once per year for free. If you prefer, you can also ask the BPU to send someone to supervise the utility company’s meter accuracy test. The BPU charges a nominal $5 fee for a meter accuracy test to be performed under the supervision of its staff.

What To Do If Your Bill Is Incorrect

If you believe that your bill is incorrect, your first step is to contact your utility company. As regulated entities, utility companies must respond to your request by thoroughly investigating your bill. Your company must report its findings to you when it has completed its investigation.

If you are still not satisfied with what your company tells you, you can then file a complaint with the Division of Consumer Assistance at the Board of Public Utilities.

Dealing with an unexpectedly high electric bill in New Jersey can be unsettling. You might be worried about how you will be able to afford to pay your bill. If you believe that it is unreasonably high because it has spiked or is much more than what you were expecting, you can follow these steps to see if you might be able to get it reduced.

An attorney may help you through the complaint process with the state so that you can try to get your bill revised to the correct amount.

Until next time, thanks for following Your Legal Corner! Check us out on Facebook for more timely articles about the law.