The newspaper’s story about the recent inspection results of home heating units confirms what we’ve been thinking for some time about complaints of high electrical bills this winter.

Which is, that the problem is not due to faulty electric meters. Nor has there ever been any basis in fact for suspicions that rates and meters have been deliberately adjusted in the city’s favor.

Instead, the independent audits performed by such people as Jimmy Henderson of Henderson Heat and Air show that the majority of high bills have been driven by underperforming equipment, the extreme weather and the heat set too high. While there have been occasional errors on the bills, those are the proverbial exceptions to prove the rule. For example, as reporter Stephen Faleski noted, of the three people who agreed to the courtesy inspection, only one found a discrepancy in her bill, and that was quickly corrected by the city’s billing department. Customers owe it to themselves to carefully read the full bill, and not just the bottom line.

We are especially appreciative that Henderson Heat and Air was willing to provide this inspection service free of charge.

That’s the kind of community service that speaks well of local businessmen such as Jim Henderson. We also hope that the residents will follow his advice and promptly get their units repaired as needed.