Craig Veich – who last month received an estimated electricity bill 241 per cent higher than the actual read – welcomed the NSW Ombudsman’s investigation into Essential Energy’s meter reading activities in Wagga.

Mr Veich said the decision was a relief for customer’s who had been stung by high bills.

“It’s a relief not only to myself, but to all the people that have stuck their hand up and said ‘this happened to me’,” he said. “The amount of people I’ve come across that all have their own story is amazing.

“There are plenty of people who have been hit a lot harder than me.”

Social media was awash with personal stories explaining how various households had been affected by estimated billing.

In one of the worst cases, Wagga woman Kirby Judd said she had been overcharged by more than $1000 higher than the actual reading.

“Their excuse for it being so much more expensive was I had a baby,” she wrote on Facebook.

Julianne Fitzgerald said there seemed to be little consistency in estimated reads, which are supposed to be calculated on previous account charges.

“Our home power is usually around $1500 and one month they estimated it to be $4000,” she said. 

“The same month the empty cottage on our farm was $1500, which only has one fridge running and the account is usually $250 … nobody lives there.”

Other people complained about the onus on customers to prove the mistake of meter readers. Readers said electricity or gas companies charged a fee to receive an actual read, while others protested poor customer service.

Robert Norris said he was in a year-long dispute with his provider to resolve an overcharge of up to $900.

“They didn't want to admit to anything,” he said.