SURPRISE, AZ — Several Surprise residents say their electric bills jumped dramatically after Arizona Public Service replaced electric meters at their homes, with some solar customers reporting their systems stopped producing power following the upgrades.
One of those residents is Scott Scriver, who said APS replaced the meter at his home in early September.
The exchange took only a few minutes, he said, and initially appeared routine.
“Everything was fine until we received our bill from APS about a month later,” Scriver said. “And our bill was well over $500.”
For Scriver, the increase came as a shock.
He said his monthly APS bills had typically been around $20 because his home is equipped with a rooftop solar system. But after the meter replacement, he said his solar system stopped generating power and remained offline throughout September.
According to Scriver, monitoring software for his solar system showed no power production for the entire month.
“I was quite shocked,” he said with a laugh. “Quite shocked.”
Scriver said he later discovered other residents in Surprise were describing similar experiences on social media, with some reporting significantly higher electric bills and solar-related issues following meter changes.
“They told me it's against some liability reason why they couldn't turn it back on,” Scriver said.
Scriver paid the larger bill. His solar system is now operating again too.
APS provided ABC15 with a statement addressing the situation:
"We appreciate you bringing this customer to us. APS periodically replaces aging meters to help ensure customers continue receiving safe and reliable service. A meter exchange does not impact a customer’s rate. In some cases, third-party equipment, including solar-related equipment, may be affected by a temporary disruption in service that occurs during a meter exchange. For that reason, our field team leaves a notice informing customers that there may have been a momentary loss of power and that digital clocks and other devices may need to be reset.
While APS does not own, operate or maintain customer-owned solar systems, we certainly understand the customer's concern and our care team has reached out to him."
The utility emphasized that meter replacements do not change customer rates. However, APS acknowledged that temporary service interruptions during an exchange can affect third-party equipment, including solar-related systems.
Scriver said he understands problems can happen but hopes the issue is behind him.
“We have a smaller house, we have no pool, we use a lot less electricity,” he said.
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