Questar Gas Co. expects a resolution soon on how much 500 customers will have to pay after being underbilled because of problems with the utility's automatic meter-reading technology.

In a meeting with the Deseret News editorial board Wednesday, Ron Jibson, Questar's president and chief executive officer, noted that the Utah Public Service Commission has a hearing on the matter scheduled Oct. 22-23, but a settlement with parties could be in place by the end of the month, if not sooner.

"We're continuing to work with the regulatory bodies on this issue, completely supporting what their efforts are to come to a resolve on this," Jibson said. "We think we'll come to that very soon."

This spring, Questar told about 500 customers that miscalibrated transponders — devices that read meters automatically and transmit that information to laptop computers inside company trucks as they drive by homes and businesses — had resulted in underbilling by a total of about $500,000. The biggest hit for an affected customer was about $2,000. The company apologized for the glitch but said it expected the customers to pay for the gas they had used.

The Utah Committee of Consumer Services called for an investigation into the matter, and its director, Michele Beck, said Wednesday that a settlement is pending.

"A resolution that is fair and a very good outcome for consumers is close at hand," she said.

Jibson reiterated that the company did not handle the matter well when the problem was discovered. "We feel very bad about the way that whole issue has come down," he said. "We didn't do a very good job on that when it first came to light.... We did not communicate with those customers. We've been working with them very closely."

He noted, however, that the affected customers represent one-tenth of 1 percent of the company's customer base and that the automated system had saved Questar Gas customers about $41 million over the past five years. The system has lessened the number of estimated meter readings and billing adjustments while boosting billing accuracy to 99.4 percent, he said.

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com