Outrageous response of power supplier after California man discovered he’d been paying neighbor’s electricity bill for 15 YEARS

A California man discovered he had been paying his neighbor’s higher electricity bill for 15 years and has revealed his energy provider’s outrageous response.

Ken Wilson, 56, has lived alone in his apartment in Vacaville, between Sacramento and San Francisco, California, since 2006.

For years he didn’t understand why his electricity bill was so high and did everything he could to save energy.

It wasn’t until earlier this year that he discovered that his energy supplier, PG&E, had made a shocking mistake and had been charging him for another apartment in the complex since 2009.

But despite the company admitting the mistake, it claimed it could not charge him the correct amount until the next billing cycle, leaving him to pay only his neighbor’s bill.

Wilson lives alone and does everything he can to conserve energy. The only thing left running after he leaves his apartment is the refrigerator.

Wilson began to notice warning signs as his monthly bill consistently came in higher than expected.

“I never really paid attention to it because I always thought I was using very little energy,” he said CBS13.

The only thing he leaves running when he’s not home is his refrigerator.

“I’ve been trying to conserve electricity and reduce my costs because it was getting more and more expensive,” Wilson said.

“There’s not much I can do to lower my energy. I was very vigilant about it. It was a habit. Every day I go to work, I turn off the fuses,” he added.

As his bill continued to rise, he began to suspect that there was a leak or that the meter was broken, and even wondered if someone was stealing his electricity.

He even went so far as to purchase a device that could measure how many watts of energy his appliances were consuming, so he could calculate exactly how much energy he was actually using.

“Something was wrong,” he said.

He has lived in his Vacaville, California, apartment complex since 2006 and believes he has been footing his neighbor’s bill from the start.

The company, PG&E, said they were working to fix the problem, but they wouldn’t be able to charge him the correct amount until the next billing cycle.

When he saw that the costs were out of proportion to the electricity he actually used each day, he complained to the local power company, PG&E.

The company sent an employee to investigate the problem and discovered that the The meter was not linked to his own apartment – ​​number 91 – but to a completely different unit in the building – number 90.

The investigation found that ‘the meter number of the customer’s apartment had been charged to another apartment since possibly 2009’, KMAX/KOVR reported.

Wilson fears he has been paying the wrong bill since he moved into the apartment complex in 2006.

“I feel powerless now because I can’t operate my own meter,” he said.

PG&E apologized for the error in a statement Monday and said it was working to fix the problem.

A PG&E spokesperson said in a statement to CBS13: “We recognize that an error occurred in this case and we are fully committed to resolving the situation with the customer and providing the customer with compensation.

“We sincerely apologize for the omission and regret any inconvenience caused by the duration of the issue.”

The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, a consumer advocacy group that represents all utilities in the state of California, offered its take on the situation.

Wilson believes he has paid the bill for a home occupied by multiple people or even a family

On Tuesday, PG&E credited his account with more than $600 — the amount he’s been overpaying for three years

Mark Toney, the director of TURN, told CBS13 he was shocked by the mistake, calling it “rare and inexcusable.”

“These meters need to be geocoded so that the exact location matches exactly the longitude, latitude, that’s geocoding,” he said. “The exact location has to match each address.”

Toney said Wilson should be compensated for the bills he has been paying for years that he never actually had to pay.

He said PG&E should go through all of Wilson’s old bills and reimburse him for the amount he had overpaid over the years.

On Tuesday, PG&E had credited his account with more than $600 — the amount he has overpaid for three years, Wilson told CBS13.

“I just hope this story helps others,” Wilson added. “I can’t be the only one.”