'Devastating’ electric bills in Bedford; director explains spike

BEDFORD, Va. (WSET) — Bedford electric customers told us they understand the impact of cold temperatures, but do not understand how an increase in their bills could be this drastic. ABC13’s Alexia Stanbridge took their concerns straight to the Bedford Electric Services director.

ABC 13 spent the day speaking with many people dealing with these high prices. Some said they do not know how they are going to pay their bill, and they want something done about it.

“We just want the transparency of why it’s going up, why we weren’t notified,” said Jessica Hubbard, a Bedford Electric customer.

When asked how much her bill increased, Hubbard said, “By almost $200, I would say $175.”

“Where do they think people are going to get this from?” questioned Kristin Dolce, another Bedford Electric customer.

“Quite a few people [are] frustrated, even people I talk to,” said Eric Sims, a Bedford Electric customer.

Customers said this month’s bill is intimidating. “It is devastating to the family because, like I said, we have three kids. It’s cold outside. We can’t be without heat,” Dolce said.

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“Such a drastic bill without notice. It’s really detrimental to some families,” Hubbard said.

Customers said they have many questions, including why this month’s bill is so high and whether it will be this bad next month. “My bill is going up as well,” said John Wagner, director of Bedford Electric.

ABC 13 took the customer’s questions to Wagner.

“It’s a number of reasons. It’s the cold weather. It’s the increased grid costs that we have to pay. And it’s also a general supply chain cost increase and things like that,” Wagner said.

Wagner said the town council voted for a rate increase, and rates went up on average about 15 percent in October. “For the past three or four or five years, we have been absorbing those cost increases,” Wagner said. “We just got to the point where we could not continue to do that.”

With the colder weather, Wagner said people are now seeing the hike reflected in their bills. He said if next month brings more average temperatures, customers will not see bills as high.

Still, everyone we spoke with said they are nervous. “What are they going to do to try to help us?” Sims said.

Wagner said the department will work on communicating what customers can expect. He said if people need help paying their bills, they should call the office to set up a payment plan.