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Council presses NewGen on unexplained usage spikes; mayor says no meter or software vendor has come to explain the system
Asked whether customers actually used the water they were billed for, NewGen's presenter said he could not answer, having done no field work, and that "the meter is the cash register" to be tested first. He said he could not explain individual spikes; suggested causes to check with the metering vendor included radio interference or a car parked over a meter box delaying a reading; and said some smart meters had read 99999, the highest possible reading. He said 2% of customers complaining would be a reasonable rate for the first three months after a smart- meter rollout and should be coming down, and that the City's lost and unaccounted-for water had fallen substantially since the new meters. Mayor Cole Stanley described a home he inspected that was billed about 24,000 gallons over roughly 40 hours with no leak or irrigation, said customers had been charged $30 for meter tests that found the meter accurate, said he had yet to see a manufacturer or vendor come to Amarillo to explain how they check their work, and mentioned a lawsuit against the City of Odessa over billing. Councilmember Les Simpson read residents' messages, including bills that rose from 7,000 to 68,000 gallons in a month. NewGen recommended having the metering vendor present to the council, field testing, using hourly smart-meter data and alerts, and interim protections such as pausing shut-offs and late fees. One councilmember apologized to residents later in the meeting.[1][2]
Cole StanleyLes SimpsonNewGen Strategies and Solutions
