Compare your bill year to year, and maybe to the year before that if you have that data. Look at usage and not the dollar amount.
If it was being estimated because they couldn't get a reading, another reading should correct it without hoopla. If it was estimated because the meter was failing, well that's gonna require some investigation.
When I worked in CS for utilities this is what we would use to measure the accuracy of an estimated bill when they occured (this was in MD/DC, lots of old meters, before Smart Meters were used widespread, and a lot of inaccessible meters.
If the usage looks way out of line, reach out to your public utility commision to see if they can remedy the issue, if you get pushback from your power co.
Why would anyone send out a computer that isn't set to update time, or sense location to the right time zone? Meh.
I had no notification until I was charged for an "estimated" bill and it finally identified there was a problem last month. I have a claim in now and I "should" see some kind of compensation within the next couple bills. The technician that replaced the battery in the meter read it manually and documented it so who knows what the final outcome will be. So much for a "smart" meter.
