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LOUIS HAUAfter spending days without power, customers' savings may be delayed by estimating.
Just about the only silver lining to be found from the power outages that followed Hurricane Frances is the knowledge that those who suffered are likely to see their next electric bill come in a little lower.
But with many meter readers drafted to help with recent power-restoration efforts, Progress Energy Florida, Tampa Electric Co., Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative and Sumter Electric Cooperative said Wednesday that some of their customers can expect to receive estimated bills in September.
And those estimates might not reflect the days when a customer had no electricity. Some customers of Tampa Electric already got such bills and promptly called in to point out the discrepancy.
But not to worry, the utilities say: The next round of bills will be adjusted to reflect actual meter readings, and will correct instances where customers paid a higher estimated bill than they should have.
"Obviously, our customers don't pay for electricity they don't use," Progress customer service director Willette Morman-Perry said in a statement.
"However, like many Progress Energy employees, our meter readers were working in other roles to support our response to Hurricanes Charley and Frances and we simply could not read every meter. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."
Progress said it has sent estimated bills to about 364,000 customers since Sept. 3, when Frances began affecting its customers.
Meter readers pitched in on odd jobs, such as guiding out-of-state repair crews around the area, assisting line personnel making damage assessments and serving as liaisons among various restoration sites and staging areas, a Progress spokeswoman said.
Tampa Electric spokesman Ross Bannister said the utility will periodically send out estimated bills if a meter isn't immediately accessible when readers are making their rounds or when the company has to temporarily suspend normal, nonessential operations due to major power-restoration efforts.
If a bill is "high, if it's low, it'll true up the next month," Bannister said.
Louis Hau can be reached at hau@sptimes.com or 813 226-3404.