Lake Tahoe customers of Liberty Utilities seeing higher than expected bills

The winter of 2017 has been full of surprises with record amounts of rain and snow, but one surprise came in the mail by wait of an electric bill.

Many Liberty Utilities customers have noticed their January and February bills were higher than expected. Due to extreme weather, the utility company had to bill based on estimated billing as actual meter reads were impossible. For some customers, actual reads may not have occurred until March if a customer’s scheduled meter read was during the February winter storms.

Once an actual read is obtained, Liberty said they will provide an adjusted corrected statement if the estimated read was higher than the actual meter reading.

"If the actual read is larger than the estimate, Liberty will ensure the customer has received the full baseline allowance (or maximum allowed usage) and then bill for usage above that baseline to ensure the lowest possible charge," said Liberty's spokesperson Kathy Carter.

The California Public Utilities Commission approves this practice if meters are inaccessible as long as a difference in usage is reconciled in future billings once an actual read can be obtained.

"Liberty thanks our customers for their patience and understanding as the effects of the worse winter storm in decades continues to impact service," said Carter. "Please call our local customer care representatives at 1-800-782-2506 or visit our office in Tahoe Vista or South Lake Tahoe if you have further questions, including setting up special payment arrangements if needed. We also want to remind customers to keep their meters clear of snow so we can obtain actual meter reads when weather conditions permit."