SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A La Jolla homeowner says he's been overcharged by San Diego Gas & Electric for years after discovering an extra meter on his property from an old electric vehicle charging program.
Manoj Aggarwal has lived in his La Jolla house for three years. He said that ever since he moved in, he believes he's been overcharged after finding a second meter on his property.
"I'm being billed for this meter in the entirety of my home, and then I'm being billed for this meter for the EV charger and other parts of the house, so it was basically like a double charge," Aggarwal said.
The extra meter was installed because of an electric vehicle charging program by SDG&E that ran between 2012 and 2014. Anthony Wagner, communications manager with SDG&E, says Aggarwal's home is not the only one with extra meters tied to the old program.
"There's about 140 customers that have a legacy program, meaning they have two meters that date back to the original electric vehicle plans that were available those customers are being billed appropriately," Wagner said.
But Aggarwal says those extra meters should have never been there to begin with.
"They ended the program in 2014, yet they did not remove the meters," Aggarwal said.
Wagner says after looking at Aggarwal's case, they also came to the conclusion that he was not being overcharged and adds it was all a communication issue on their part.
"You have two meters, but you're only billed for that one usage, and one subtracts from the other, so while it was confusing, it turns out that his bill was accurate," Wagner said.
SDG&E says this customer was not being overcharged. But after seeing initial coverage on billing issues, this customer reached out for help.
Aggarwal says it's been years of frustration, and it took just one call to ABC 10 News to finally get answers from SDG&E about his electric bill.
"When I did that, within one day they called me, within two days they were out here and fixed the entire issue I've been dealing with for three years," Aggarwal said.
Aggarwal stands by his claim of being overcharged and said he was not put on the correct rate or plan for having an electric vehicle until now.
As for the 100-plus customers with extra meters, it's unclear whether there are plans to remove them in the future. But SDG&E says anyone with questions should contact them right away.
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