Manitoba Hydro has reported a glitch in their system that may have contributed to a possible higher-than-average electric bill recently. That's from spokesperson Anthonie Koop. He explains the glitch is associated with estimated bills, which are issued every second month, unless the Hydro customer submits their own meter reading. If that isn't done, estimates are made from historical usage data combined with weather conditions.

"In some cases, those estimates appear to be off and they're seeing bills much higher than they expect," explains Koop. "So, we're looking at the problem. But it's difficult to know how widespread it is. Certainly this has been a very warm summer. And the increased cooling load will have some role to play."

He explains estimates are based on daily weather patterns. Despite the warmer than normal weather earlier this summer, driving cooling costs upward, Koop notes there definitely has been an miscalculation creating bills with amounts higher than they should be.

Koop says your next bill will be based on a meter reading, and overestimations will be reconciled. He notes you can help with an alternative procedure.

"The other alternative is if they see a really significant unexpected jump in their bills, we're asking our customers to give us a call with a meter reading, and then we can adjust their bill accordingly," he adds. "It is only customers who are estimated, and aren't on, for example, the equal payment plan. If you're on that plan, you're charge each month is the same and this glitch does not affect you."