Billing & Payment - Understanding Your Bill

Reading your meter

Knowing how to read your meter can help you track your energy use and use your energy more efficiently. If you've never read your meter before, follow the instructions below. Reading a meter is easier than you think.

Locating Your Meter

If there are several meters on the wall, your meter will be labeled with a Meter Number in the Electricity Usage Section of your bill. Need help locating the number on your bill?

Before you can read your meter, you have to find it. Use the following tips to locate your meter.

• The meter is usually near the main fuse box or panel of circuit breakers
• The meter is usually on the outside of the house or apartment building
• The meter is usually about 5 feet above ground level
• The meter has a round glass bowl covering four or five small dials that look like tiny clocks

Reading Your Meter

A meter reading consists of 4 or 5 numbers. Use the following steps to read your meter correctly.

1. Your meter will have 4 or 5 round dials numbered clockwise from 1 to 0.
   • Pointers indicate the reading on each dial.
   • The pointers rotate in alternating directions (see example below).
2. Starting with the dial on the right and proceeding to the left, record the numbers indicated.
   • If a pointer is between two numbers, record the lower number.
   • If a pointer is directly on a number, check if the pointer on the dial to the right has moved past zero. If it has not passed zero, record the lower number from the original dial.
3. Congratulations! The 4- or 5-digit number (depending on the number of dials on your meter) you've just recorded is your new meter reading.
4. To determine how much electricity (measured in kilowatt-hours, or kWh) you've used since your meter was read last, subtract the previous meter reading (from the usage section of your bill) from your new meter reading.

example

The meter below reads 16064, as follows:

Reading a Meter Dial

Pointer 5	Pointer 6	Pointer 3	Pointer 2	Pointer 1
1	6	0	6	4

To better understand the factors influencing your energy usage, review these Billing Inquiries.

Comparing Your Meter & Your Bill

Though Southern California Edison prides itself on meter reading accuracy of more than 98%, errors do occur. The steps listed below will help you verify our meter reading.

If you have trouble finding the appropriate information on your bill, refer to the interactive samples in Understanding Your Bill.

1. Find the Usage section of your bill.
2. Under the heading Dates and Readings are two columns labeled From and To. The top numbers in the To column contain the date of your last meter reading. The numbers beneath the date tell you what this reading was. Write down this number.
3. Get the current reading from your meter. If you are unable to read your meter, call SCE at 1-800-655-4555.
4. Compare your reading with the reading on your bill. Your current meter reading should be higher than the reading on your bill. If the meter reading on your bill is higher than your reading", go to Request a Meter Read Verification or call SCE at 1-800-655-4555. Have the following information handy:
   • Your Name.
   • Your 10 or 13 digit account number.
   • The meter reading on your bill, including the date.
   • Your own meter reading, including the date you read your meter.

If the number you read off your meter is slightly higher than the meter read on your bill, you may want to take a closer look at your energy usage during this billing period. To do this, subtract the meter read on your bill from the new read you obtained. Divide the difference by the number of days to get your daily average. Compare this figure to the daily average on your bill.

Here are some things to look for as you examine your bill:

1. In the Usage Comparison area of the Electricity Usage section, look at the Number of Days for this month. If the number of days is higher than previous months, your usage this month may be higher.
2. Directly under the Number of Days, you'll find the Average Usage Per Day for this year. If your average daily usage is higher than in previous months, the charges this month may be higher than expected. Reasons for a higher average daily usage include:
   • Weather conditions requiring greater heating, cooling, or swimming pool pump usage than last year.
   • The addition of new electrically-powered equipment including appliances, pool or spa heaters or motors, golf carts, leaf blowers, personal computers or printers, large- screen TVs, large aquariums, larger refrigerators or freezers, waterbeds, trailers or RVs, engine block heaters, etc.
   • Guests, visiting relatives, students home for the holidays, workers on a remodeling project, or other additional people in your home using electrical appliances.
   • Check the Message area of your previous bill to find out if it was an "estimated bill." When SCE is unable to access a meter, we estimate how much electricity has been used. If your previous bill was an estimate, it may have been lower than your actual usage, making this month's actual reading appear higher than expected. If your meter is difficult to access, please call us so we can work together to find a solution. For instance, if your meter is behind a locked gate, SCE can provide a new lock that will allow our service representative to enter.

Review our Energy Cost Guide or request a free Energy Audit for additional explanations of increased electric usage.