SALMAN RIVER, NS –
“It struck me,” said homeowner Bob Mackenzie, after a situation that would make everyone’s head spin.
On February 10, a kitchen fire forced Mackenzie and his family to leave their home in Salman River, NS
They have not returned since.
He says that when firefighters came that day, Nova Scotia Power workers came to turn off the electricity for safety.
Nova Scotia Power showed up, pulled out the meter, put the meter in there, and the meter has been taken ever since.
By Tuesday, Mackenzie said the counter was on the ground next to his house. The power supply is not included again, as he is waiting for the completion of the restoration work through insurance.
He thinks the company may have come to get the counter, but he’s not sure.
However, he had already sent a picture of the land meter to Nova Scotia Power after receiving a $ 1,018.32 electricity bill earlier this week.
According to his account statement, the billing period began on February 7, three days before the fire. The bill states that the amount is approximate due to “no access”.
“They didn’t even know the meter was off, so I don’t understand how it could have happened or how I could get a bill. They show 6,146 kilowatt-hours used, previous meter reading, new meter reading.
Mackenzie called Nova Scotia Power and said the bill was canceled and the service was “very apologetic.” However, he still has many questions about where he got his numbers from.
“How did they decide I was using 6,146 kilowatt hours?” Because last year in April it was 6,500 kilowatt hours. I just don’t know where they get their calculations from. “
Nova Scotia Power could not provide anyone to answer these questions in an interview. Instead, the corporation sent a written statement from Senior Communications Advisor Jacqueline Foster.
“When we respond to emergencies such as fires in residential buildings, our priority is always to ensure the safety of our customers and employees,” the statement said.
“Unfortunately, an administrative error was made during the emergency, which led to the client being invoiced by mistake. As soon as we were notified, we took immediate steps to correct it and thank the client for his attention.
His questions remain unanswered, Mackenzie says he has had many reactions since posting about his Facebook experience.
He now says he worries about how many people receive and pay bills based on estimates – not actual usage – without even noticing.
He wants to know how often the company calculates the bills, especially after it started upgrading 500,000 customers across the province to smart meters in 2019.
“I’m worried about moving on, is it my own account, but my neighbor’s account, everyone else’s account, will everyone be carved out?”
As for the smart meter, Mackenzie is done.
After returning home, he asked the company to install an analog meter in the hope of avoiding additional billing errors, although returning to a traditional meter will cost him a fee.
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