(WJAR) — A Pawtucket man is charged with emotion after he got an extremely high electricity bill from Rhode Island Energy.
Jeffrey Gomes said he received a more than $20,000 bill, that has since increased.
“Chest pain, panic attacks, the whole nine, it’s not fun at all,” said Gomes as he reacted to the past due bill.
Rhode Island Energy responded to NBC 10 Thursday afternoon, but he said he tried to reach them for days.
“So three days ago, I get and email, 11 o’clock p.m. for an electric bill. I open it, thinking it’s like $120. I open it and it’s $20,000,” said Gomes. “I’m stumped. Rhode Island Energy is not giving me any answers despite numerous calls ,that’s why I reached out to you guys.”
He said he added solar panels to his home seven years ago.
Since then, Gomes said he has been paying bills averaging between $50 to 150 monthly.
Now, he is struggling to understand why the bill is this high.
“I called originally, three days ago. No answer. Called the next day, get an answer, an hour wait, and I’m just told ‘Hey, you have to wait until the 24th to hear back. We’re looking into it,'” said Gomes. “Then today, the bill goes up an additional $6,000, and I called them back today and they’re changing their story. They’re like ‘Oh, we originally said the 24th, now you should wait till the 26th.'”
He showed NBC 10 that all of his past bills were unavailable on his account.
There was one statement issued on August 19 for a little more than $20,000, and one shared this Wednesday for almost $27,000.
“Luckily, I had auto pay turned off last year for a similar instance but not $20,000,” said Gomes. “It was like 200 or 300, but I turned it off. Luckily, I did that because if not, I’d be homeless.”
Gomes said the problem is “negligent” on Rhode Island Energy’s part and said he needs answers.
“It’s hard to stay focused with work knowing that any given day the credit bureau could get involved and take my house,” said Gomes.
A Rhode Island Energy spokesperson did tell NBC 10 on Thursday they are investigating why the bill is more than $20,000.
They said they called Gomes back and left him a message.
Gomes will not be responsible for the outstanding balance as they investigate.
NBC 10 will follow up with Rhode Island Energy for this story.