EL PASO - When a man in the lower valley saw his most recent electric bill, it was more than double what is usually is. He thought it was because of the winter freeze, but it turns out, it was human error.
El Paso Electric says an employee read Edward Stevens 'meter incorrectly and didn't mean to charge him that much. They say the issue has been resolved, but now Stevens is wondering if it's happening to others.
"It's not consistent, something's wrong here," Stevens said about his bill.
It was $154, more than double what he paid the previous month.
"It shows a lot of inconsistency where sometimes they were charging me $70 one month and $40 another month," he said.
When he called El Paso Electric, they said it was his fault
.
"Well theres someone else apart from your family living at your home that the bill went up that high; no one else its only my wife, me and my two kids," Stevens said.
Finally, El Paso Electric realized they'd made a mistake.
"There was a problem with the reading the first time, we corrected that, and a new bill was re-issued," said Teresa Souza, spokesperson for EP electric.
She says she doesn't know how often the meters are misread, but we asked her how they can be sure this is an isolated incident.
"If it's extraordinarily high and they know they haven't used that much electricity the previous month they should probably give us a call," she said.
Souza also says EP Electric can't change the rate unless they get it pre-approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
But Stevens says if he hadn't spoken up, he'd be paying $100 more than he should.
"I have a feeling I'm not the only one in this kind of case right now," he said.
If you also find yourself in this situation, let us know about it. Send us a message at: http://www.kdbc.com/contact.
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