Craig and Botetourt County residents shocked after receiving monthly power bills - WDBJ

Craig and Botetourt County residents shocked after receiving monthly power bills

BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - After opening what they thought would be their typical power bills, Craig and Botetourt county residents were taken back.

“Beyond shocked, we weren’t expecting it. I don’t think anyone was expecting it,” said Botetourt County resident Benjamin Alexander.

Alexander says his bill was almost double the amount from just last month, going from $240 to $468.

Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative said in a Facebook post that its Bessemer Substation was unable to provide the actual usage amounts from November to January.

They say they used system usage generated estimates for about 1,400 customers. These estimates were lower than the actual usage amount, causing the electric company to add on to the bill that is due now.

Many of those customers, just like Alexander, are saying they were unaware of this happening.

“Absolutely no communication as to the issue with the Bessemer Substation as to the meters not reading correctly. Their excuse was subpar in my opinion,” said Alexander.

In the Facebook post, Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative apologized for the inconvenience and offered A 12-month payment plan to customers who will have trouble paying their bill in full.

“I could go with the payment plan, but I would hope that they would resolve it on their own terms, an issue that was caused by them,” said Alexander.

To prevent issues like this happening again, Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative says it’s in the process of upgrading its metering system and will do a better job at communicating internal issues with customers.

WDBJ7 reached out to their communications department, but haven’t heard back from them as of yet.

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