Southern California Edison Outrageous $701 bill... Edison says it must have been estimated, sometimes meters aren't actually read! Rosemead, California

Today I received my electric bill and was looking forward to a very low bill because we have been diligently conserving on energy. No more than 2 hours of tv per day, no heaters, no lights on, and we don't use the clothes dryer...instead we hang our clothes to dry. We even took our wet clothes to a laundromat this week to save money on our electric bill. I was shocked to see my bill at $701 for one month.

I immediately called Edison and demanded an explanation. I had also called last month over a $400 bill. Once again, the rep insisted I must use too much electricity. We don't.. and if we cut back anymore, we'll be using candles. After arguing back and forth, the rep admitted that the bill was "estimated". She did not want to give more info, but I insisted on finding out about this "estimate" and asked why wasn't my meter actually read by someone. She just said that he must not have had access due to a locked gate or dog. But that is impossible as we have never had a lock and our little dog has no way to access that side of the house as it has 2 gates.

I believe that the meter person didn't bother to actually "read" our meter, for whatever reason (lazy or bad weather?)

I called Edison back to speak with a supervisor but was told I couldn't. The next rep confirmed that their records did show that the amount was an "estimate". She said it's possible that the previous month could also have been "estimated". These estimates she said, were taken from 12 months ago, which at that time we had a business running in the garage and also tenants. But we have not had either for a long time.

She said she would refer it to be re checked and it would take up to 3 weeks. I had already given them a check last month for $400, and I asked what if I had mailed in this $701 and it was in error, (which I know it is in error) would I have gotten a refund? She kind of chuckled and said they couldn't possibly keep track of errors because they had too many customers.