Like many former Vero Beach electric customers, Kenneth Costello was pleased to get his first, lower bill from Florida Power & Light Co.

But he never expected what he got in the mail Friday: His last electric bill from the city of Vero Beach was a whopping $3,773.38 for power and related taxes.

“I didn’t have the St. Helen’s fair in my yard,” said Costello, who has only two portable air conditioners in his 870-square-foot home built in 1928.

Regardless, his final electric bill from the city of Vero Beach says he used 24,894 kilowatt hours from Nov. 21 to Dec. 17. Compare that to the 543 kilowatt hours on his previous month’s bill, which set him back about $70.

More: What you need to know about Vero-Beach-FPL electric change

Costello said the largest bill he's had in the 12 years he has lived in the home was about $220 one summer.

“When it’s hot out I open the windows and start taking my clothes off,” said Costello, adding he almost never uses heat.

As for December: “My house is not lit up like the Las Vegas strip,” Costello said, adding the city bill was inexplicable.

Costello said customer service agents at the city told him he’d have to wait a week to speak to a supervisor. A city agent told me FPL read the meter and Vero Beach would double check with the company. Ultimately, Costello is likely to receive an adjustment.

City Manager Jim O’Connor said he has heard few complaints about customers’ transitions from Vero Beach to FPL. The city sold FPL the power system for $185 million late last year.

“It’s going much smoother than we anticipated,” O’Connor said, adding he expected more confusion from residents, who received two bills in one month.

While not seeing Costello's bill, O’Connor was not that surprised. Fewer than 1 percent of electric bills are wrong, mostly due to human error between the meter and the bill.

“There could theoretically be a mistake,” he said.

The potential for “human error” should be mitigated over the next 12 to 18 months. That’s when, according to FPL spokesperson Sarah Gatewood, the company will alert residents smart meters will be installed at their homes.

More: FPL's installation of smart meters sparking debate on Treasure Coast

Among the benefits of smart meters, according to FPL:

The company “is able to prevent many outages and, if they do occur, restore power faster.”

Meters are read remotely through “automatic” and “secure” communication.

If you contact FPL with with a question, the company will have more information to help quicker.

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In 2016, Gatewood told the Palm Beach Post smart meters have helped identify theft of electricity.

Opponents of smart meters cite such concerns as health, loss of jobs, higher bills, privacy and more.

Regardless, they’re headed to Vero Beach. Statewide, Gatewood said, fewer than 0.1 percent of FPL customers have opted out of getting a smart meter.

One reason might be cost: For opting out of a smart meter, FPL charges a one-time fee of $89, plus $13 a month to have someone dispatched to read your meter.

That would eat into the savings some customers will get from cheaper FPL electricity.

But not nearly as much as the bill Costello received.

“It took me off my feet!” Costello said. “$4,000 in a month!”

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.