By Sarah Klein

Manitoba Hydro Building (STAN MILOSEVIC / CHRISD.CA FILE)

WINNIPEG — Manitoba Hydro says it’s working to correct inaccurately estimated bills sent out to some customers.

Paul Chard, Manitoba Hydro’s director of customer care, says the Crown corporation believes the extremely warm summer weather is affecting estimate calculations for those customers who don’t have a lot of meter readings associated with their accounts.

“Without enough meter readings to establish a customer’s history of energy usage, our billing program puts more weight on weather factors, such as cooling load,” Chair said.

“However, the number of hot days this year is so far outside our system’s range of experience that, in some cases, it is generating estimates considerably higher than actual consumption.”

The billing inaccuracies appear to be affecting mostly newer accounts with less than eight meter readings in the last 24 months.

Hydro began reviewing residential bills this week which were estimated at over $400. If found to be out of the ordinary, Hydro will be adjusting bills before they’re sent to the customer.

Received a significantly higher bill from Manitoba Hydro?

Call (204) 480-5900 or 1-888-624-9376. If the estimated bill is found to be high compared to the meter reading, it will be adjusted accordingly. Customers who have already received and paid a higher bill will see a correction issues on their next bill based on an actual meter reading.