CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. – Multiple customers of a local energy company are turning to social media after their energy bills were higher than normal following the winter storm that blanketed parts of Georgia.
On Thursday, Carroll EMC posted on their Facebook page that they were working to deal with a group of their PrePay Members who claimed their balances spiked following Winter Storm Benji.
While the 100 comments on the post deem otherwise, Carroll EMC wrote that “it is important to note that no one has been charged for electricity they haven’t used or paid more for the electricity they did use. Also, no one has been cut off for negative balances as of [Thursday] morning.”
Members commented on the post claiming they were without power for two or more days and were still charged for power they didn’t have. Others commented and said they were charged $50 for four days when they typically only pay $85 for two weeks. One customer even said they were charged $110 for five days.
The Facebook post also stated the issue comes “when communication is lost to a meter, [Carroll EMC’s] system estimates a balance for each day by calculating an average usage based on the prior ten days. The confusion was caused when [their] communication system created alerts for [Carroll EMC] PrePay members during the outage based on these averages and not actual usage.”
The company has continued to respond to multiple comments on the active Facebook post saying they are ‘working hard’ to resolve all concerns surrounding this issue.
Carroll EMC sent 11Alive the statement below:
"Carroll EMC is aware of a group of PrePay Members who have concerns with their balances following Winter Storm Benji. We feel it is important to note that no one has been charged for electricity they haven’t used or paid more for the electricity they did use. Our Member Services department has worked diligently to help concerned PrePay Members to resolve any confusion and create a solution to keep their accounts in positive balances."
Carroll EMC is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric utility company that serves seven counties in west Georgia, according to their website.
You can read the full post below:
