Outraged Richmond, Va., resident Dana Bagby said she doesn't understand how she could possibly owe the city more than $15,000 in unpaid utility bills, but according to the Department of Public Utilities, that's what she owes, and that's how much she'll have to pay.
According to WTVR, an error on the city's part meant Bagby was never notified that the city was charging her for payments she said she paid, and they say they never received.
Department of Public Utilities spokeswoman Angela Fountain said "this fell through the cracks. It certainly did."
Bagby is vowing to fight the monster bill, and told WTVR, "Somebody needs to do something. Somebody needs to help me."
Bagby is not the first person to be shocked by an enormous utility bill, however.
Kristin Harriger in Abilene, Texas, was sent a bill for nearly $1.4 million this summer, including a $66,000 late fee. She quickly learned that her bill was an error, and that her utility company was charging her $1,000 per kilowatt hour rather than the normal rate of 8 cents to 12 cents an hour.
Similarly, in August, a Connecticut woman discovered that for 25 years she had been paying for the electricity used to power streetlights near her home. Grace Edwards was eventually reimbursed for the $10,500.
And in November, a Maryland man fought a $19,000 power bill sent by his provider, Pepco, eventually contacting a consumer protection agency and sharing his story with local news stations. Ira Ludwick's strategy worked, and eventually Pepco relented, and the billing issue was resolved.
Someone is not doing their job or is fibbing big time.
This is too easy to hack... check your actual meters no matter what they say, glitches can easily occur here.
http://wtvr.com/2012/12/05/how-does-richmond-let-a-resident-run-up-a-15000-utilities-bill/
She questioned a bill in 2008 and the city put a hold on her account while they investigated. My take is that they never put it into the computer to release the hold, yet meanwhile she continued to receive the utility (gas and water only - electricity is billed by Va Power) and her bill kept rising for at least four years. In 2012, she moved to the adjoining county. I'm betting that since she didn't want to open up a bag of worms, she never called to cancel her utilities. The next tenant is probably still using her account. Also, the neighbor who said his normal bill is about $100 a month is probably either not telling the truth or has his bill subsidized. 35th St. in the city is a very old section and the homes don't tend to have up to date insulation and windows. I live in the county and heat my newer home and hot water with gas, which is furnished by the same Department of Utilities she's dealing with. Summer bills as far as gas goes are cheap, but winter bills can be several hundred dollars each month.
That's the key sentence in the entire article, and it makes no sense. How do you get "charged" for "payments"?
And yet we need LESS regulation on companies! They've gotta be able to keep breaking those record profit margins, right? They can't do that if we dare to demand proper treatment! Silly consumers, what are we thinking? Let me get my checkbook.
And yes, your tax dollars do go to regulation of public entities, unless you want to see more victimization of innocent people just for your selfish desire to not be properly taxed. This is not a tax issue anyway, so please stay on topic.