Xcel Energy Phantom Meter and Bogus Charges Denver Colorado
We bought a historic home and proceeded to undergo a 75% home remodel and renovation. During the initial demo, Xcel started billing us anywhere from $500-$1000/month for our property that was literally dark and vacant, no windows, doors, etc. We argued we had no electrical power running to the property, and no one living there. However, they said the meter showed use, so we got billed. We continued to get monthly bills ranging from $800-$1000. The home is just about 4000 square feet, and the previous owners never had any issues similar to this. Now the home has all new windows, new doors,
3 years later, the home has all new windows, new doors, high-efficiency appliances, complete new duct system, etc. The entire house was rewired and everything was replaced with the most current energy efficient options. We recently had a full home energy audit, and the technician could not find anything out of the ordinary. Our bills continue to be over $1000. Our last home was also a newer remodel, and our bills never reached over $400. It's absolutely impossible that we could be using this much energy. If we refuse to pay, they will disconnect us. We have asked for a new meter, more frequent reads, or anything that would help and they continue to ignore us.
Recently, we were able to get them to agree to allow us to pay out the high bills with a payment plan. We made a payment of $800, and created schedule to pay the rest out in monthly installments. 4 days after we made the payment and agreement, they came out and disconnected our service 'by mistake'. We work from home and had no power from 11am until 8pm. Even though it was their mistake, they still wouldn't give us a straight answer on when they would turn it back on, and we had to be home (in the dark and cold) to wait for the tech to come turn it back on. We lost an entire day of work due to their negligence and competency.
As consumers with no other options, we are at their mercy, and there is basically nothing we can do. They ignore our requests for help but they will cut us off if we don't pay, and obviously, we need electrical service to live. This situation is absolutely a nightmare, and the company is literally stealing from us!
Hopeless in Denver
EM, Denver CO