- Jurisdiction
- Hawaii
I have an issue with unusually high electric bills for the past 6 months. My landlord has been very diligent working on this with me, but so far we're at a loss. Something is definitely wrong with the electric but without being able to pinpoint error, I'm being held liable.
I live in a highrise where all electric is done through the intermediation of the condo complex. The bill gets sent to my landlord, then copied to me to include with rent. I've lived there for 3 years and electric has always been consistent. The range has always been $50-$80 depending on time of year. (the place is only 300 sq feet). In July there was an unusual jump to $125. I got in touch with the landlord right away and he ended up replacing the AC. But the next month it jumped to $155. I unplugged the new AC and we did a wait and see but it continued jumping up each month. So he replaced the water heater. It peaked at $195 in November. That's triple the average! And has leveled at $185 for the past 2 months; even after the water heater replacement.
The landlord has been really trying to help, but we haven't been able to figure it out. Nothing has changed in my living style or electric use. Our next step is to contact the condo management and get the meter checked. I question their reliability as they're not in a hurry to help or find a solution and they have a "reader" who is not associated with the electric company. In the meantime, I'm being held liable for the extra $500 in electric bill overages.
Two questions. One, what other options do we have to get to the bottom of the electric issue if the meter is determined to be okay by this third party? (things can be shady here in Hawaii) And two, am I liable for anything above and beyond the historical average when something is clearly askew?
I live in a highrise where all electric is done through the intermediation of the condo complex. The bill gets sent to my landlord, then copied to me to include with rent. I've lived there for 3 years and electric has always been consistent. The range has always been $50-$80 depending on time of year. (the place is only 300 sq feet). In July there was an unusual jump to $125. I got in touch with the landlord right away and he ended up replacing the AC. But the next month it jumped to $155. I unplugged the new AC and we did a wait and see but it continued jumping up each month. So he replaced the water heater. It peaked at $195 in November. That's triple the average! And has leveled at $185 for the past 2 months; even after the water heater replacement.
The landlord has been really trying to help, but we haven't been able to figure it out. Nothing has changed in my living style or electric use. Our next step is to contact the condo management and get the meter checked. I question their reliability as they're not in a hurry to help or find a solution and they have a "reader" who is not associated with the electric company. In the meantime, I'm being held liable for the extra $500 in electric bill overages.
Two questions. One, what other options do we have to get to the bottom of the electric issue if the meter is determined to be okay by this third party? (things can be shady here in Hawaii) And two, am I liable for anything above and beyond the historical average when something is clearly askew?