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Entergy responds to erroneous gas bill, issuing refund
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BATON ROUGE - One couple is relieved to learn that a $9,000 charge on their Entergy bill was an error after all.
Charles and Anne Oliver say they feel grateful after receiving the news less than 24 hours after meeting with 2 On Your Side about their large Entergy bills.
"After you got here, you and your crew, you handled it right off the bat and got a result we were looking for, and I really appreciate it," said Charles Oliver.
On Monday, 2 On Your Side met with the Olivers at their Baton Rouge home to review their Entergy bills, which started drastically increasing in June. That's when they received a $9,120 gas charge on their Entergy bill. The Olivers are on levelized billing, which takes the average of your bills over a 12-month period. When they received the outrageous charge, their Entergy bill jumped from $199 in May to $957 in June. The bills that followed were also hovering between $700 and $900.
It's been a lot for the couple who is on a fixed income.
"Did you have to dip into your savings?" asked Brittany Weiss.
"Yes, I did, in fact, I had to borrow at one point to keep up," said Charles Oliver.
They were struggling to pay the bill and keep the lights on. While they fought the charges, Entergy sent them two disconnect notices threatening to cut the power if they didn't pay.
"I kept telling them I can't afford that, they said they're here to help, and I said, but you're not helping," said Charles Oliver.
On Monday, 2 On Your Side spent 42 minutes on the phone with Entergy asking for the charges to be investigated. The next day, Entergy called the Olivers, letting them know that they had found the error and would be crediting their account. The Olivers requested a refund instead to pay back the money they borrowed.
"We appreciate what Entergy has done; they apologized and they looked into it, that's a good thing," said Anne Oliver.
The Olivers were not provided with an explanation about where that $9,120 charge came from and why it appeared on their bill.
"They never explained that to me," said Charles Oliver.
Entergy officially completed the sale of its natural gas services to Delta Utilities at the beginning of July. Customers with natural gas service now receive bills from Delta.
Entergy was also unable to provide 2 On Your Side specific details about what happened and how the error occurred.
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