A six-month reconciliation shock reveals deeper problems with billing accuracy and who ultimately pays for the utility’s “unaccounted for gas.”

By Energy Probe

Mississauga, Ont. — Behkam Shargh, like many homeowners, prides himself on paying his bills promptly and accurately. But in May 2026, Enbridge Gas hit him with a sudden $541 catch-up bill covering six months of natural gas usage from November 2025 to May 2026. The reason? The utility had relied on estimated readings for his meter instead of actual ones, then reconciled the much higher real consumption later.

The Toronto Star’s recent profile of Shargh’s ordeal puts a human face on the systemic billing and meter-reading problems that consumer advocate group Energy Probe has long criticized in regulatory filings. In its July 2025 submission to the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), Energy Probe links these operational shortcomings directly to massive spikes in Enbridge’s Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) variance accounts, which the company wants ratepayers to absorb.

UFG is the difference between the volume of gas entering the Enbridge Gas distribution system from suppliers, such as TransCanada PipeLines, and the volume delivered to customers as measured by their meters. UFG may result from system leaks, metering inaccuracies, or billing errors. The OEB permits Enbridge Gas to recover the reasonable cost of UFG from customers as an unavoidable cost of operating the distribution system.

Estimates Create “Artificial Variances” and Surprise Hits

Shargh’s story follows a familiar pattern, according to the Star: Enbridge shifted toward more bi-monthly meter reading in parts of its service area and outsourced to a new vendor, leading to poorer performance and heavier reliance on estimates. When actual reads finally occurred, adjustments piled up, often landing as large catch-up bills.

Energy Probe argues this process artificially inflates UFG variances. Estimated bills defer true consumption data, creating discrepancies that later appear as “unaccounted for” gas. The group points to sharp UFG increases in 2021–2022 — coinciding with the rollout of these changes — followed by some normalization in 2023. Enbridge has sought recovery of tens of millions in related variance account balances.

In its submission, Energy Probe recommended a deemed $5 million disallowance from the 2022 UFG accounts, contending the issues stemmed from controllable management decisions — including the meter-reading contract switch and insufficient root-cause investigations — rather than external factors alone.

The Star article notes a history of exceeding OEB missed-read targets on the part of Enbridge. In 2022, the utility reportedly hit a 5% missed-read rate against a 0.5% allowance, leading to a voluntary compliance agreement with a fine. Gas utilities, unlike electricity distributors, can more readily shift such costs to customers through variance mechanisms.

This echoes earlier OEB scrutiny of Enbridge’s billing and customer service issues around 2021–2022 — the same period when UFG balances ballooned. Energy Probe has urged prioritizing investments in accurate, timely meter reading over other initiatives, such as a rejected pilot on fugitive emissions, arguing it would better prevent customer frustration and financial shocks.

Shargh told the Star he refuses to simply accept the bill without pushback, highlighting the stress, potential need to borrow money, and haggling involved for affected households. 

As more customers like Shargh experience billing surprises, pressure is mounting for reforms to meter accuracy and clearer limits on shifting operational risks onto Ontario ratepayers.

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Energy Probe serves as the voice of the average Ontario household at the province’s big energy rate hearings. Energy Probe is an independent, non-profit group that shows up to OEB proceedings (the government body that approves, for example, natural gas delivery charges) to represent consumer interests—focusing on keeping costs fair, avoiding unnecessary subsidies or waste, and making sure decisions are based on real economics rather than politics or special interests.

Energy Probe’s July 2025 submission to the Ontario Energy Board is available to download below.