VACAVILLE, Calif. (KMAX/KOVR) – A California man recently noticed something was not quite right with his utility bill. After further investigation, the power company discovered he’s been paying someone else’s bill for what could be nearly two decades.
Ken Wilson keeps a watchful eye on how much energy he uses, especially in recent months since he got a high bill. He even bought a device to tell him how many watts his appliances give off, so he can track his daily energy usage down to the exact number.
“I’ve been trying to conserve electricity and lower my costs because it was getting really expensive,” Wilson said. “I kept going outside to check my meter… and I couldn’t believe it.”
Wilson, who lives in a Vacaville apartment complex, soon realized that something was wrong with his energy usage as shown on power company Pacific Gas and Electric’s website.
“I thought there was a leak or someone was stealing my electricity or the meter was faulty because something wasn’t right,” he said.
Wilson called PG&E, who sent a worker out last Tuesday to check his meter. That was when it was confirmed Wilson’s apartment, unit 90, was linked to the wrong meter, so he was paying the utility bill for unit 91.
Since Wilson has lived in the same apartment since 2006, he thinks this may have been going on for 18 years. He says since he lives alone, his bill should be lower than any other unit.
“I feel powerless right now because I can’t control my own meter,” Wilson said. “I just hope this story is going to help others. I can’t be the only one.”
PG&E apologized for the error in a statement Monday and says it is working to correct the issue. The power company says preliminary investigation shows “the meter number for the customer’s apartment was being billed to another apartment since potentially 2009.”
Wilson was still paying for the wrong meter, as of Monday. He says the power company indicated the error won’t be corrected until the next billing cycle.
