<prompt> Human: I have been living in a 2 bedroom apartment with a roommate since November 2013. Our monthly utilities gaselectric have consistently been between 130 - 200 with summer months being understandably more expensive because of AC.Earlier this week, I checked my account and was surprised to see that it was at a credit value of 515 meaning I had overpaid. I called up to see what the deal was and they informed me that my account was in the middle of being adjusted due to the bill being estimated for the past 8 months. They said to check again in a day or so as that value would likely change. I understand how that process works and so didnt think anything of it other than hoping that it stayed at a sweet positive value.I checked yesterday and now it says that I owe 2500.The variance would suggest that I was underpaying by about 300 a month all year meaning my total bill each month, had it been actual instead of estimated, would have been 400-500. Or there were one or two months that were just absurdly out of line. No change in our living habits could possibly explain that shift in usage. If anything, weve been more diligent about turning off lights.I know my hot water heater was replaced about 5 months ago all in the building were, but heat and hot water are included in rent not billed from utilities. Weve bought no crazy new electronics, our cooking habits havent changed, and actually this summer we are using one less AC unit than we did last year. I feel like even if I accidentally left my oven on for a week it wouldnt explain this bill.I spoke with my landlord to see if anyone else in the building mentioned having an extreme bill since everyone would have been subject to the same estimatesadjustments but he said he hadnt heard anything. He also grumbled about the estimate thing - apparently, they had started fining him for denying access to the basement where the meters were.Im kind of at a loss here. I cant think of any scenario in which I could have caused this extreme usage. What should my next steps be? Assistant: So, at some point in the past the utility company read the meters. Then at some point they couldnt get access for a while and just sent you estimated bills. Now they have gotten access and read the meters once. And they have now reconciled their long ago reading with the current reading, and billed you for the difference.They could have made a mistake in reading them. Your landlord could have hooked up some extra electric lines to your meter fraudulently, usually; sometimes accidentally so that youre paying for other peoples electric use. Or you could have used a lot of juice.You need to figure out the dates above and whats going on.Also, dont confuse gas and electricity. They have different usage patterns so you need to separate the bills for them so that you can figure it out.Human: And they have now reconciled their long ago reading with the current reading, and billed you for the difference.Looking at the bill now, I think this is where they made the error.Despite comparing the actual today vs. last actual reading in January, the bill reflects none of the payments I have made during that time. So it seems to me that this bill is representing the gross value of what is owed, not the net.Im going to call now to see if this understanding is correct.EDIT: Its not a problem with the billing. Definitely an issue with the meter reading. See belowAssistant: That still doesnt get to the crux of the issue. You need to find out if you really are using hundreds of dollars of elec every month. Human: Just scoured through all my utility bills. The problem is with gas.Between 1112013 and 152015 14 months, 14 bills, during which only 4 estimated readings were used a total usage of 349 Therms was recorded.Between 152015 and 842015 8 months, readjusted to 3 bills, during which only the two cited reading dates were actual a total usage of 1683 Therms was recorded.So, unbeknownst to me, in the last 8 months I used 5 times the gas than I did in the prior 14.Something is massively wrong here. Like I said, during that time the landlord not only replaced water heaters which are located in basement where meters are but also did not allow utility company to read the meters. Things are feeling pretty fishy about my landlords actions here. Possible meter tampering, or maybe they just screwed something up. Either way, there is just no way I am accountable for 5X the usage in nearly half the time.Now I gotta do the math for electric  <response>: I cant smell the gas leak, but I smell something rotten ... 