* Note the comments

"A Nanaimo apartment building manager estimates that nearly one-third of the residents in his 50-unit building have come to him complaining of bill increases since controversial smart meters were installed at the property in November.

"Many of Mike Pickup's tenants are older and on fixed incomes and the claimed increases, which are said to double in some cases, are a financial strain they cannot bear, he says.

"B.C. Hydro has countered that any possible increase to electrical bills at properties are likely attributable to the winter season and that they get just as many complaints of high bills from those without smart meters and those with them.

"While smart meters are installed on many homes in B.C., they aren't yet transmitting information and are still being read manually.

"We have had nothing but issues with these smart meters," said Pickup, on-site manager of an apartment building near downtown Nanaimo.

"We've been charged more. . . it seems like bills are up all the way around, inexplicably."

" . . . Even empty units are being hit with unusual invoices since the smart meters were installed in November, Pickup said.

"A vacant suite with the box turned off that the electrician just checked there was no power coming into the suite even, got a $50 bill for that period of time. In fact it was $80, then it was $50 for the next month, but vacant both months . . .