Legal Question in Consumer Law in Nebraska

Re: public utilities

It doesn't matter if the house is occupied or winterized or not. It just matters whether the service is being used, and what else the contract provides for in terms of required payment (i.e. is there a special "winter" charge?)

The utility should only charge for actual benefits you have received, but many use estimated amounts and then correct on a regular basis upon actual readings. It strikes me as possible that they are charging based on estimated usage, or a level payment plan, and that if the meter actually shows no usage you'd be able to resolve the problem simply by having the utility read the meter sooner than it had scheduled. Have you spoken with the utility at all about the problem?