Reliant Energy Company Billed after 6 months of incorrect meter readings Dallas Texas

On February 2009 I received a corrected bill from Reliant Energy saying that I owe $468 for that month. This was quite a shock to me because in the past six months I had been paying an avg. of $60; and since I am single, rarely at home, don't even turn on AC or Heater often, probably 3-6hrs/day at the most, I thought this was appropriate.

Looking over my corrected bill I saw that in the previous months they had received wrong readings and they are now charging me in full.

ONCOR does their meter readings, so I decided to sign up on their website to see my readings. Turns out that I can (online) check my readings at 15-minute intervals. So how is it that Reliant got wrong readings in a period of 6 months? Actually it probably was more than that, but by State law they cannot charge me beyond 6 months.

Is it right that I have to assume full responsibility for their mistake, and the only way that Reliant Energy holds itself accountable is by saying that they're sorry? Now I have this $468 bill that I did not expect and am not in the best financial position to be able to pay it.

Lesson Learned: I will now be checking the meter myself, to make sure they do not underbill me.

Resident in dallas
Dallas, Texas
U.S.A.