New meters may cause Fort Erie water bill spike
Some Fort Erie residents may be surprised to see their water bills for July are slightly higher than usual.
Kelly Walsh, the town’s director of infrastructure services, said the increase is a one-time occurrence.
The Town of Fort Erie announced Thursday the municipality recently completed its residential meter exchange program.
Walsh said radio frequency meters have been installed on properties, and new meter reading technology has been purchased that allows town staff to complete readings for more than 13,000 customers in a two-day period.
Walsh said the program increases efficiency for the town.
“Under the old system, it was a contracted service (that performed meter readings) and we had to pay someone to do that. Under the new system, we are doing everything ourselves,” Walsh said.
All meter reads will now be done during the last week of the month, to provide residents with their most current consumption and allowing for earlier leak detection.
Because of the timing change, Walsh said some customers might see higher than average water consumption on their July bill, which will lead to a higher than average cost.
“Some people will have a seven-week read, and some will have a four-week read depending on where your reading was on the schedule.
“Residents are not being billed for more water. The bills will just be playing catch up.”
Walsh said the town understands the increase may cause a concern for some of its customers.
“They can do instalments and deferred payments. They just have to call our finance department and make arrangements.”