SaskPower customers concerned by abnormally high bills

Read power meters to avoid unexpected bills WATCH: SaskPower is advising customers to submit power meter readings regularly to avoid hefty bill hikes. Wayne Mantyka reports.

Some Saskatchewan residents say they were shocked when they received their latest power bills, after some found charges running in the hundreds of dollars, far higher than what the customers say they usually pay.

Brianna Willox had been paying around $120 a month for power, but this month she had to pay $832.86.

“I was pretty shocked. I thought it was a joke at first, until I realized it wasn’t. Then I was kind of upset about it,” Brianna Willox said.

Brianna shares a two bedroom basement suite in Regina's Lakeview neighbourhood. The meter is on the side of the house, but she doesn't think SaskPower came around at all last winter. Instead, the Crown sent sending estimated bills. The estimates were low and now she's paying the difference.

SaskPower tries to come around every three months to read meters in the city. Meters are read once a year in the country. Monthly bills are estimated in between and that's where things can go wrong.

“So what happens then is they do end up having to potentially make up that cost, make up that power that they used that was more than what was estimated in those previous months on that next bill,” SaskPower Media Relations and Issues Management Consultant Jordan Jackle said.

SaskPower says the cold winter may have been a factor. The crown corporation adds billing will become more precise once smart meters are reintroduced in the province, which is still two or three years away. In the meantime, customers are encouraged to submit their own meter readings monthly.

Based on a report by CTV Regina's Wayne Mantyka