A Regina homeowner is looking for answers after he received a power bill much larger than he expected.
David Cornelius has lived in the north end of Regina for nearly nine years. He owns a small two-bedroom home and usually enjoyed low power bills. But recently, one bill caught his attention.
“It was close to $1,200,” Cornelius told CTV News. “My bills are usually $100 to $150.”
Cornelius collected his bills and called SaskPower, speaking to one of its customer service representatives.
“(I) told him that ‘Hey, this is what’s actually going on,’” he said. “I thought it would be an easy fix and it would be over and done. But, he said no.”
Cornelius spent weeks calling SaskPower and says he was told multiple times that nothing was wrong. Finally, SaskPower asked him to produce readings from his meter dating back to the time he was billed. He did have that information, and Cornelius was told by SaskPower that the bill was a mistake and he would be receiving a corrected bill.
SaskPower said it does have an alarm system in place that alerts it when a home is being charged more than its average bill. But, the crown corporation said that system isn’t perfect.
“Unfortunately, sometimes there would be a reading or a bill that would get through it,” SaskPower representative Jordan Jackle said. “This happens very rarely in the case of meter read issues.”
Cornelius said he’s worried people who don’t check their bills, or record their meter readings, could fall through the cracks.
“The whole process of waiting and sending my bills, the dates and the readings I had, luckily,” he said. “The general public I think doesn’t do that.”
SaskPower said residents should check their meters regularly and report any discrepancies.
Based on a report by CTV Regina's Josh Diaz
