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Robin Bullock says that even a busy time of the year, her electric bill is only $300.

Woman gets $72,000 electric bill WARRIOR, December 16, 1999  When most people open their electric bill each month, it is no big deal. But, one Warrior woman received a power bill for more than $72,000.

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I talked to the lady and asked her what her computer reading was showing and she said '$72,614.06' and I said that is what mine is showing. And then, she said 'we may have a problem.' I said 'we've got a definite problem.' Robin Bullock salon owner Many people toss their bills into a pile without even checking the amount. Well, that is what one Warrior woman had always done until last Friday. A five figure power bill caught her eye. Robin Bullock owns Tan on the Beach salon in Warrior Alabama. Her average power bill is usually $300, but she was billed for $72,614, that is 20 years worth of power. This is not even peak tanning season and even if it was, it would not be over $300, says Bullock. Ms. Bullock was understandably shocked when she sat down to pay her power bill. This is just for one month. Its a final notice bill like, if you dont pay, like they cant put up with me anymore, says Bullock. So, Bullock immediately called Alabama Power to see if it was a typo.

I talked to the lady and asked her what her computer reading was showing and she said $72,614.06 and I said that is what mine is showing. And then, she said we may have a problem. I said weve got a definite problem, says Bullock. Bullock was told they would keep her tanning beds up and running and get back with her. Finally, the bill was settled. In this case, it was not related to computer error. It was a simple human error. We serve 1.3 million people in a while something like this pops up, says Alabama Powers Pat Wylie. Alabama Power officials said this error has nothing to do with their attempts to be Y2K compliant and residents should not be concerned they will experience any problems when 2000 rolls around. The good news is it shows the system works, the customer was aware this was not a common bill and brought it to our attention and we were able to take care of it, says Wylie. Although this is not Y2K related, it is a good idea to check your bills and keep records, especially as we head into 2000.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 17, 1999

Answers

Bet the DEA was suspicious too...

-- a (a@a.a), December 17, 1999.

It those darn x-mas lights.

-- for real (for@real.com), December 17, 1999.

Just to add a bit more information on this. I called our power company here in Alberta Canada because of some of our tenants where complaining that their bill were way up, after speaking to the customer support people I found that the normal bill seemed to be OK., but I discovered that if you have any out of the ordinary situations, ie. moves changes, accounting error corrections, they seem to be having some problems with this. Then I asked if they had just updated their billing systems and the customer support person was silent for a moment, so to help I indicated that I was very involved with Y2K and a senior systems analyst (which I am) and they admitted that they had installed a new system on Oct 1st/1999. So it appears that they made good stride on the changeover but some of the not so ordinary activities are being handled with less interest to clarity. SO be ware of your bllls. Justthinkin com

-- justhinkin com (Justthink@y2k.com), December 17, 1999.

They probably just applied the Kaua'i rate instead of the local rate. We've got the highest rate in the nation!

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), December 17, 1999.

Received my mortgage bill this week (late) from Nations Credit.

The statement date is 12/01/99. The due date is 11/28/99. OOPS

Now the due date was supposed to be 01/01/2000. Think they've got a problem?

-- Zoned (Twilight@thezone.com), December 17, 1999.

Yep, the electric companies are compliant all right, 100%.

-- Larry (cobol.programmer@usa.net), December 17, 1999.

At our office every month some of our phone bills are exactly the same, last month two of them were incorrect by $850. The real kicker? They are $850 less than they should be, ie cheaper. Telstra the phone carrier (Australian) we use confirmed with me that they were indeed correct bills.

Now if other companies are getting incorrect bills that are less than what they should be then how much is the phone carrier losing in revenue?

Regards, Simon

-- Simon Richards (simon@wair.com.au), December 17, 1999.