Westar meter reading problems observed first hand
6:01 p.m. Wednesday, August 27, 2008
"That's the one back there," said Jacques Muller, a meter reader as he was pointing to a dog which chased him.
We're going along as a Westar crew reads meters in Topeka, a tougher job than you might think.
"Just skip over it for now and just come back and read it a little later," said Eric Van Becelaere, a Westar meter reader supervisor, as he tells one of his employees to skip a meter and keep going.
So what happens if the meter cannot be read?
"Like the issue that we had with the dog, he was unable to get to that meter, we are going to try to send somebody out on that particular meter, and try to read it in the next couple days," said Van Becelaere.
Will it have to be estimated until then?
"Until we would be able to try to read the meter," said Van Becelaere.
Because they can't get into some backyards to read meters, they have to use binoculars.
But readers keep going, reading hundreds of meters each day.
"On an average day it averages out to the 760 range, per meter reader, yes," said Van Becelaere.
When Westar can't get to a meter, and can't see it with binoculars, it estimates your reading, and your bill. Westar told us in one day almost 8,500 meters were read, 31 were estimated, and 6 had to be re-read to make sure they were accurate. Crews read about 208,000 meters each month.
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Comments
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Aug. 28, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)locoducky (anonymous)
Do they put a notice on your bill saying that due to a dog, your bill was estimated? Or maybe if they consistently can't read your meter because of a dog (whether vicious or not) maybe they can knock on your door and ask you to put the dog inside while they read the meter? They have to fix the problem eventually because they can't just continue to not read the meter. Eventually they will have to read the meter. I think they should let you know that your bill was estimated so that in the future you can fix it. It generally doesn't take more than a couple of minutes to put the dog in and allow them to get an accurate reading.
Aug. 28, 2008 at 10:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)nickbundywestar (anonymous)
If your bill is estimated, it will say estimated on your bill. Meter readers do knock on the door and ask you to put your dog inside. We read meters during the day, so a good percentage of the time people are not home.
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