By Wyatt Fischer ,
1 hours ago Photo Credit: Reddit A New Jersey tenant faced an electric bill that suddenly doubled with no added usage, and, to make matters more mysterious, only his meter doubled.
The problem persisted even with the apartment's air conditioner off, major electric appliances limited, and no one home for most of the day. The tenant started to consider the possibility of energy theft.
Here's what to know In June, the renter began seeing higher PSE&G bills in their nine-unit apartment building, according to a Reddit thread in r/AskElectricians .
"I have gas heat & stove, no electric dryer or dishwasher, AC is OFF, barely home before 7 PM," they wrote.
What alarmed the tenant most was that nearby apartments were showing about 0.39 to 1.30 kilowatts in real time, while their own meter showed "3.52 kW active draw with nothing major running in my apartment!" They also said a PSE&G representative told them the other units in the building were paying less than $200 from June through September, even as their bill had doubled.
The poster said the meter number matched the one on the bill. They also reported a cumulative reading of about 18,000 for their unit, compared with u...