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Anecdote:
A guy I knew in high school got a job working for the local small town utility reading meters.
Only problem was, he was lazy and had a wee bit of a problem with the liquor.
When faced with a meter than was a pain to get to, he would "estimate" the number based on experience and previous useage.
He started only doing it once in a while but the longer he got away with it the more it became a habit.
After a while he could do a daily route in 20 minutes without getting out of the truck much.
Eventually it caught up with him and he got fired, and lots of customers were shocked to find that they suddenly owed many thousands of dollars in unpaid utility bills because he had guessed way to low.
Small town, big scandal. He nearly went to jail for it but was able to scurry away with his tail and rep on fire.
Bottom line, I don't trust utilities to decide how much I owe and regularly double-check to be sure. Same with the water meter.
Luckily I still have analog meters.
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