(WJAR) –
PAWTUCKET, R.I. – A Pawtucket man who received an unexpectedly high electricity bill exceeding $26,000 is seeing his account adjusted after contacting NBC 10 News.
Jeffrey Gomes first reached out to NBC 10 earlier this week after his bill, for his solar panel-powered home, initially totaled over $20,000 and then increased to more then $26,000. He described feeling overwhelmed, stating, “My chest got tight. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest…I literally called out of work, took a cold shower, tremored a little bit and was like, ‘No, this is absolutely wrong.'”
After NBC 10 reported on Gomes’ situation Thursday, the balance on his account dropped to $6,000, according to Gomes, who took a screenshot of the updated amount.
Rhode Island Energy confirmed Friday that the inflated bill stemmed from a meter malfunction and is working to rebill Gomes for the correct usage.
“I’m definitely going to be more apprehensive moving forward. I’m never again using auto pay, absolutely not,” Gomes said.”But, I mean my home has energy so I can’t talk too much rubbish in the sense that I have running electricity.”
As of Friday, Gomes’ account showed no past charges.He is awaiting final confirmation of the corrected bill but expressed gratitude for NBC 10’s intervention. “If it wasn’t for you guys, I’d probably be homeless as when I made calls, they really didn’t seem to care,” Gomes said. “It was only up until you guys were notified that things started speeding up along.I’m very grateful for this news station. Thank you!”
A Rhode Island Energy spokesperson stated the correction process should be completed by early next week.