Electric Bill a Real Shocker: $890.58 Charge More Than $700 Higher Than the Previous Month

By Matt Lynch, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

Jun. 14–HARLINGEN — Elizabeth Maisonet got a shock when she opened her monthly electric bill.

Accustomed to paying electric bills of nearly $500, Maisonet was stunned by the high voltage of a nearly $900 charge on her CPL Retail Energy statement.

The utility company’s bill showed she owed $890.58 for one month’s service on her four-bedroom home.

“Our bill fluctuates, but it never goes over $500,” she said. “But even that is outrageous.”

Her previous month’s bill was $172.51.

“We were surprised when last month’s statement was so low, and we were saying ‘Thank God, they finally got it right,’” she said. “But this month, it’s practically a whole paycheck.”

According to Maisonet’s most recent statement, the $890.58 charge “reflects a CPL Retail Energy Rate Relief Discount of 9.1 percent off the (Public Utility Commission of Texas)-approved fuel factor built into your overall rate for metered services.”

CPL spokeswoman Sarah Blunden said in a written statement that followed inquiries into Maisonet’s account that Maisonet’s bill was not a mistake.

“We have looked into this and can confirm that the customer is not being billed for more energy than they have consumed in the last month and previous months,” Blunden said.

Blunden said CPL does not disclose individual customer information.

“While we cannot speak to individual customer accounts, we do take customer service very seriously,” she said.

She said in the statement that CPL does not read the meters but works with American Electric Power, the company that does.

AEP Spokesman Jerry Don Wilson confirmed that AEP employees frequently reread and test meters at the utility company’s request. He could not discuss individual customer accounts.

“We work for the retail provider and they tell us what to do,” Wilson said. “If we go out and reread a meter and it’s wrong, the utility company will refund the customer. If we test the meter, we make sure its accurate 100 percent.”

From time to time, a customer will receive a lower bill one month, Blunden said. This will result “in a true-up the following month.”

“If a customer receives an abnormally low bill without having changed their consumption patterns, we encourage customers to call us so we can get the read double-checked and they can budget accordingly for the following month’s bill.”

This isn’t the first time Maisonet said she has questioned her electric bill. After Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast last year, Maisonet said she soon saw increases in her electricity costs.

“It started going up after Katrina. We called and asked them why it was so high and they said they didn’t know,” she said.

Maisonet said she even went as far as to request a meter test, but Maisonet questioned the test that cost $20 and revealed no faulty equipment.

“They didn’t find anything, but I don’t know. They said they checked the meter, but I never saw anyone,” she said. “The person from CPL said they could come any time, even at 2 in the morning.”

Although the meter test performed at Maisonet’s home revealed nothing out of the ordinary, Wilson said there are a number of variables that could account for this electric bill.

“If a customer has electric heat or air conditioning, there could be a short, or they could have an electric water heater that’s staying on all the time, or even a short in the oven or stove,” he said. “It would be a good idea to call an electrician that’s really savvy and smart in energy conservation to check things out.”

Maisonet said her family has tried everything they can think of to conserve electricity, from using only cold water to wash clothes to making sure lights are turned off when someone leaves a room.

In the meantime, Maisonet said she has already requested another meter test. But even though she’s not pleased about it, Maisonet said she is preparing to pay the bill should the test reveal no problems.

“This is like a whole paycheck. We are blessed, but that is money that could be going to my kids.”

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Copyright (c) 2006, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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