City completing manual utility readings for customer assurance

Staff Reports

SAN MARCOS – The City of San Marcos Electric Utility (SMEU) is completing manual meter readings at all customer addresses not automatically reporting into the billing software system to ensure exact usage numbers following the recent winter weather event.    

“On Friday, Feb. 27, our staff completed all manual meter readings for our first two groups of utility billing customers to provide assurance that their bills are correct,” stated Director of Public Services Tom Taggart.  “We pulled electric utility crew members and contract meter readers off other projects and adjusted work schedules to be sure this effort was accomplished.”

SMEU deployed nine technicians who worked at least 440 hours in total to manually read meters that weren’t reporting into the billing software system.  This means that there will be no estimated usages for customers included in the first two utility billing cycles.

“We’re committed to completing this same manual reading process for addresses in the last two billing cycles so all our customers can be confident that their bill accurately reflects their total electricity usage for the period that included the winter storm event,” Taggart said.

Many residents are concerned about spikes in utility rates due to stories being reported in the state and national media. Since San Marcos Electric Utility is a City-owned municipal utility, rates are set by the City ordinance in coordination with the City budget process and there will be no increase in rates for SMEU customers at this time.  However, customers should expect higher than normal electric usage due to the nearly two weeks of extremely cold weather we experienced, which may result in higher than normal bills this billing period.

If you have questions about your utility bill or need to discuss a payment plan, please email utility_billing@sanmarcostx.gov or call 512.393.8383.  For assistance or to view options available to help pay your utility bill visit www.sanmarcostx.gov/utilitybilling.  To read about Winter Weather Recovery Resources for residents and businesses visit www.sanmarcostx.gov/winter.