Entergy customers outraged over recent spike in monthly bills

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - Entergy customers in Northeast Louisiana are reporting significant increases in their electricity bills this month.

Customer Service Manager Roderick Worthy said the spike is due to an increase in usage, and is not linked with the recent transition of old meters to new ones.

“For the last month or so, we’ve been in and out of a cold spell and we’ve had more heating degree days where customers are more likely to crank up the heat to stay warmer and that is in turn driving up the electrical usage in their bills,” Worthy said.

Customers like Camryn Tucker described the past two months as a nightmare.

The West Monroe resident said from November to January, her bill went up from $129.65 to $377.39. She said she took every possible step to prevent her bill from increasing before the spike.

“I got that higher bill in December and I thought this was normal, but I decided to cut down on some things to not worry about this again. From there it literally doubled, and it was already doubled than what it usually was,” Tucker said.

She said living on a fixed income makes paying this bill incredibly tough on her family.

“Where are you supposed to dig it up from? It just doesn’t fall from out of the air. I’m doing everything I can to work for it and to be able to pay my bills, and when you throw something just way out of normal in there it just doesn’t work,” Tucker said.

It’s the same case for Allen Emfinger in Winnsboro.

The Northeast Louisiana Power Cooperative (NELPCO) customer saw his bill jump from $150 to $413 in a two month span.

“It’s not fun I can tell you that. It’s a punch in the gut for sure,” Emfinger said. “Had we not had a little bit of money to put up, or have the ability to put up a little bit of money in case of these situations whatever they may be like high power, blown tire, or taking a car to the shop, I don’t know what we would do.”

After hearing the public outcry, the Public Service Commission is asking power companies to take a closer look to see if there’s another factor causing this spike.

District 5 Commissioner Foster Campbell said he wants to make sure customers are being properly charged and not shelling out unnecessary money.

“I think the spikes are unreasonable and that’s our job to make sure the people are paying the right amount for their electricity,” Campbell said.

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