High Gas Bill Fires Woman Up

Alabama Mobile A woman opens up her gas bill and it's almost one thousand dollars!

by Kesshia Peyton

Published: Fri, September 26, 2008 - 4:10 pm CST Last Updated: Fri, September 26, 2008 - 5:15 pm CST

A woman opens up her gas bill and it's almost one thousand dollars!

Annie Moran of Mobile says she couldn't believe her eyes when she looked at her August bill. It read $980.00.
"I didn't know to cry or holler," said Annie Moran of Mobile.

She said she knew it was mistake and wanted Mobile Gas to correct the bill. Unfortunately, the company told her that was how much gas she used.
"Now I can see my bill being high in winter time, but not $900," said Moran.

Mobile Gas sent out two technicians to check to see if there was something wrong. They replaced her gas meter but determined that wasn't the problem
A spokesperson said the problem could be Moran's water heater.
"In some cases, you can have a water leak on a hot water line on a water heater and that can cause the water heater to run non stop because you constantly have fresh water coming into the tank and it has to be reheated so that causes the bill to be higher." said Mobile Gas Director of Communications Wes Phillips.

But Moran tells News 5 she had a plumber check out the water heater. The plumber did not find any leaks.

Her September bill was back down to normal. The only change to the home was the new gas meter.

Mobile Gas agreed to knock about $200 off the bill and Mobile Community Action has also chipped in about $250. The Morans still owe about $500 toward the gas bill. Mobile Gas says it will set up payments.

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carl Says:

Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 4:23 pm

Hey Claycity you gotta see that video Bamabob has on the other site, in politics. And anyone else by going to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). The whole country needs to see this video.

claycitymadness Says:

Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 2:37 pm

these are basically private companies entering into monopoly markets, like bcss is doing, jacking up the rates and they are the only game in town. they know it cost too much to convert. if i was southern electric i would be working on a campain to show the difference in price and start to get people to convert to electricity. see how much of a windfall check they get then. i know these companies think they have a right to return on ovestment, i do as well but not the huge amount, someone set the model wrong. they are in a restricted market, people have to have gas, and they face no competition. its just obscene for these payouts when they are going to recover it through the rate payers. kind of like what happened at enron. look out!

claycitymadness Says:

Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 11:02 am

yeah i got a free one from my electric co op too, but had to install it myself. that gas is a real bear, they did a story n it in the summer but didint do any good, now look at this sale thing and see whats up with that, hope the sec or someone gets involved to prevent it. i want to pay a fair price for what i use, but i =dont want to pay for huge overhead. if it costs them a dime to get the gas to my house i wouldnt mind paying 11 cents, still a 10 per cent markup but for them to fford the huge payouts with the upcoming merger the customers will end up paying the price, and it will bankrupt thecompany. enron, mci, anyone listening?

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Deswar Says:

Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 10:51 am

I went and checked on getting a hot water heater, they said I could get one for free. Now my problem is having the money to get it installed. Another thing is I finally got to talk to someone this morning and they told me they don’t do adjustments on gas leaks. They did an adjustment on this person’s bill. I guess you have to be in the news or special to get any help. Their technician was a real horse’s tail when I told him all I had on me was twenty dollars to give him this morning, said it wasn’t enough. And I had just made a payment on the 19th of a little more than what my bill was for the current month. Now my children and I are stuck with taking cold showers and I guess I’ll be cooking on the grill.

claycitymadness Says:

Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 8:51 am

it woudl be different if mobile gas prices werent among the highest in the state and nation. look at what the rate payors will be paying for the assmued debt on the planned sale, its obscene. our PSC really watched out for us didint it. sign me STILL ALL ELECTRIC, no funny smell, no yellow walls, and not supporting mobile gas. gas used to be the cheaper more efficient way, not any more. change to electric!

Deswar Says:

Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 7:43 am

Speak of the Devil and they show up….No shower or warm meal for me no time soon.

Deswar Says:

Sun, Sep 28, 2008 at 10:57 pm

I really feel for this lady because I’m in the same boat. I still owe around $500 myself due to a gas leak a couple of months ago. I look for them to turn my gas off any day because I’ve just been paying what I can on it. My bill was due to a gas leak in a line that I had no clue was even there. And on top of everything else I had to pay a plumber to come out and fix it. Then my hot water heater had to be fixed and that tacked another $150.00 on top of my gas bill.