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Smart Meters Pose Ongoing Issues For Duquesne Light Customers

PITTSBURGH (KDKA)) -- Do you have one of those smart meters that Duquesne Light is installing all over?

Turns out, sometimes customers are experiencing problems with them.

Last January, Karen Mihalic told KDKA-TV about her first bill after the installation of her smart meter.

"That's when I had my shock," she told KDKA money editor Jon Delano at the time.

The first month after Duquesne Light installed her smart meter, the Mihalics' electric bill skyrocketed from $42 a month to over $2,500.

She was hardly alone.

Christine Fox's bill jumped two-and-a-half times during the winter.

"I think there are many people out there who are having problems with it," Fox said last January.

Fast forward to now and Duquesne Light customer Ernie Leopold of Findlay Township has just the opposite kind of smart meter problem.

"Six months into it we started getting zero bills. Our bill came with a zero dollar amount," said Leopold, "even though we were using electricity."

Leopold called Duquesne Light -- who replaced the meter and figured out what was owed for electricity actually used -- but the problem kept repeating and got worse.

Obviously, these smart meters are not so smart.

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This is the third smart meter for the Leopolds and then they got a notice that their electricity was going to be shut off.

Leopold: "Yesterday, we received a disconnect notice from Duquesne Light that we had 10 days to pay our bill or they would shut our power off."

Delano: "Even though you've been paying it?"

Leopold: "Even though we've been paying the bill every month."

Duquesne Light says it's working to resolve Leopold's billing problem,

And it says smart meters are like computers and experience technical issues.

But if you have any problems with smart meters, Duquesne Light says to read bills carefully and alert the company immediately, and it will work to arrange payment options.

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