Electric bill questions after widespread power outages

HOUSTON — KHOU 11 News has been receiving calls on our Your Voice hotline from viewers asking the same question: Why are they being charged for days they didn’t have power?

“My power went out on the 8th. I got my power back on the 11th at 2:30 in the evening. I am getting billed Wednesday and all of Thursday showing I received power, which I didn’t,” Juan Madrigal said.

“Even though I was out of power for three days the bill is like $365,” Tino said.

One viewer shared a picture of her bill with KHOU 11 News. She said she’s being charged even though she didn’t have power for 10 days after Hurricane Beryl.

Others said their bills were as high or higher than their previous bill even while they sat in the dark.

“I found out that it was $33 higher from last month after being without power from Monday morning to Saturday evening at 10 o’clock. So, six days in this billing cycle I was without power,” Dennis Caldwell said.

Consumer expert Sandra Haverlah, who is the president of the Texas Consumer Association, said it’s simple: You shouldn’t be charged for days you are without power.

“If you’re looking at the electricity portion of the bill, you shouldn’t have charges for your kilowatt-hour usage,” Haverlah said.

But Haverlah said you need to look at your bill closely because some of your monthly charges may be there even if your lights were off.

“Every month, you will see a transmission and distribution charge separate from your electricity charge on your bill. You’ll see those separate charges for surcharges,” Haverlah said.

Haverlah said you could also be seeing charges from before the storm.

“The bills they’re seeing now are probably charges for pre-Beryl unless their billing cycle falls right after the storm,” Haverlah said.

She urges you to check in with your power provider if you see irregularities they’re the ones who can help resolve a power bill issue.

“The way the process works, CenterPoint bills your retail provider for that, and then your retail provider turns around and bills you for it. So, you need to reach out to your provider,” Haverlah said.

Haverlah said it’s important to make sure you take the time to look at a full breakdown of your bill — either on paper or online — so you can get any issues solved quickly.