I know this isn't exactly the same issue, but I'm on a water meter here in the UK.

When I first moved in I had stupidly low water bills, and the predicted meter readings on my bill were way off. Each time I would ring up with the correct reading and get told that it would work itself out and not to worry about it. About 4 years later they actually got around to sending a man in a van to read the actual meter. Of course there was a huge difference, this had a massive impact on my bill not only because of the missing water being billed for all in one go but the computer system assumed I got a pool or something and I'd be using that amount of water every quarter. I think my bill went up over night from something like £10 a month to £150.

After very much messing around I resolved the issue by coming off their stupid computerised pricing structure and just paying for the water I actually use. Maybe your electric company are in fact having some computer problems, one thing I have noticed when the companies in the UK have problems it's always in their favour

Cheers

Cris.