Largo, Fla. – For more than four years, Janice Doll, a retired resident of Largo, struggled with electric bills that regularly topped several hundred dollars despite living in a modest 1,500‑square‑foot house. Duke Energy repeatedly told her the meter was functioning correctly and suggested the problem lay inside her home.
Repeated attempts to fix the problem
Doll spent an estimated $12,000 to $15,000 replacing major appliances, including a new air‑conditioning unit, pool pump, washer, dryer, microwave and a garage refrigerator, hoping to curb the soaring charges. She also hired an electrician who inspected the property six to eight times over three years, yet found no defect.
“We even called Duke for an energy audit, and they came out and said everything looks great,” Doll recalled. “Well, obviously it didn’t because then we got a $600 bill the next month.”
The billing mistake uncovered
The situation reached a breaking point when Doll received a $970 statement for August, even though she had been out of town for 28 of the 31 days. “I was just so distraught,” she said, adding that she had considered moving because a $1,000‑a‑month electric bill was untenable for her family.
In mid‑September, a Duke Energy technician inspected the residence and discovered that the serial number on the paper statement did not match the meter installed outside the home. “Somehow, your meter has been mixed up with someone else’s,” the technician explained, showing Doll a Google image of a much larger home on Treasure Island that the utility had been billing her for.
According to Doll, both meters were replaced one day apart in late January 2022, leading workers to accidentally transpose the account numbers. “Our meter was replaced on January 26, 2022, and the other home’s meter was replaced on January 27, 2022,” she said. “The only information I got from the Duke executives was that the numbers were transposed at that point.”
Refund and apology from Duke Energy
On October 1, Duke Energy emailed Doll acknowledging an overbilling balance of $10,939.29. The utility stated, “We recently discovered that you have been billed for electric usage on a meter that does not serve your location. We regret this mistake and have made corrections to ensure that the correct meter is now registering your electric consumption.”
Doll received a refund payment of just under $10,000. “All the frustration and the anger and the money – just all of it,” she said. “Nobody would help me in those 57 months that we have been saying there was a problem. They wouldn’t address it.”
Utility’s response and steps for consumers
Duke Energy issued an apology for the administrative error and outlined its correction procedures. “We apologize for any inconvenience this error may have caused. Our customers only pay for the energy they use, so after something like this is discovered, we worked to correct it immediately. This involves assessing the energy usage for both customers during the impacted timeframe. The customer who overpaid for their actual energy usage will then receive a bill credit,” the company said.
To help other Tampa Bay residents avoid similar issues, Doll recommends verifying electric statements against the physical meter attached to the home. Homeowners noticing unexplained spikes should confirm that the serial digits on the meter match those on all billing documents.
Why this matters to the community
This case highlights the importance of consumer vigilance when dealing with utility providers. While Duke Energy ultimately corrected the error and refunded the overpayment, the five‑year ordeal underscores how administrative mistakes can place undue financial strain on families. By checking meter numbers and demanding clear explanations, residents can protect themselves from costly billing errors.
Original reporting: Tampa Bay Florida News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
