WEST SENECA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Dozens filled the West Seneca Public Library on Thursday night for NYSEG's open house on smart meters. The devices have been the center of controversy all summer, and 7 News has continued to follow up giving a voice to the dozens of people who have emailed 7 Problem Solvers with the same billing issues.
"We cant afford it," said Kim Knickerbocker, of West Seneca. She came to the meeting with a folder of NYSEG bills. Many customers like her went to the meeting very frustrated that their bills have gone up so much.
7 News was the only media outlet at Thursday's meeting.
"I think this is ludicrous," said Knickerbocker to 7 News' Michael Schwartz, who has been covering this issue and smart meters for the past three months.
Schwartz informed Knickerbocker that NYSEG's CEO Trish Nilsen was at the public meeting, speaking to customers one-on-one.
"I would love to speak with her and go over my bills," said Knickerbocker who then spoke with Nilsen.
After Knickerbocker spoke to Nilsen she said she felt relieved.
"[Nilsen] is going to have somebody reach out to me, and credit my bill," said Knickerbocker to Schwartz. "She seems to believe that there is an issue...I think I might get some satisfaction out of this meeting...So I appreciate you."
Kristen and Eric Leisner, of Cheektowaga, also spoke to Nilsen at the meeting. Their issue is that bill showed electric usage went up in the vacant home they moved out of a couple months ago.
"She was nice, and cordial," said Eric Leisner about Nilsen. "To her it didn't make any sense why it was like it was."
Leisner said customer service reps on the phone weren't helpful, but speaking to Nilsen was. Leisner said the CEO told him that the company is going to test the meter on the vacant home to make sure it's working right.
While those couples got solutions, many others left the meeting frustrated feeling that their budgets were blindsided by these rate increase. Some were so mad that they didn't want to stay and speak to NYSEG staff.
Many customers still question why their usage went up if they didn't change anything in their homes, and why bills have doubled or tripled.
Nilsen told Schwartz in an interview last month that the company finds issues with less than 10,000 of the 2,000,000 bills they send out each month. She encourages anyone who has an issue to call the company at 1-800-572-1111
Nilsen said there could be many reasons why a bill went up, especially since approved delivery charges increased this year. She said smart meters do not cause bills to be more expensive.
