LINDALE, Texas — Dozens of East Texas residents are fed up with outrageous water bills they're seeing in the Lindale and Hideaway areas. In response, state lawmakers requested an investigation into Undine Water following the reports of unusual prices.
This week, Texas state Rep. Cole Hefner and state Sen. Bryan Hughes requested that the Public Utility Commission of Texas launch an investigation into Undine's significant water bill increases in Hideaway and Lindale.
"We lived in fear of what the next bill would be," Undine customer Jennie Richardson said. "You know what you're going to spend each month, and when you get hit like this, you you can't afford the groceries you used to buy. You're cutting back on everything."
At 89 years old, Richardson is living off Social Security and on a fixed income. She said she’s seen her bill skyrocket nearly six times the normal price during the summer.
"It is very difficult when you're used to maybe an $89 water bill in July, and you get a $600 water bill right out of the park. And then we lived in fear of what the next bill would be," she said.
Richardson said she and her neighbors have been getting a blanket excuse from Undine support teams.
'They said, 'I'd use 79,000 gallons of water.' This is not an acre lot. It's not all water. So that was very exorbitant. We called them, and they said, 'well, you have a leak.' Well, we didn't," Richardson said.
Undine spokesperson Rick Melcher said, “it was an easy, trained response from our call center who truly believe that any high usage could be caused by leaks.“
Hefner, one of the lawmakers who called for the investigation, said there needs to be some clear answers faster before making people pay. He said Undine’s explanations have not been good enough for customers.
"Hearing from the people is vitally important at this point, and just we want to know that we we've got their back. And we're trying to figure out what's going on here," Hefner said.
Melcher also said Undine has adopted a new tier system as a way to manage water consumption throughout the state. The company is currently doing its own investigation and looks forward to meeting with Texas lawmakers. Undine wants to make things right by making any necessary adjustments.
But as many East Texans wait for answers, some are dealing with issues right now.
Richardson has recently had to cut back on groceries, using water and has even considered selling her home due to the financial stress.
"They're going to think twice before they approve something that harms the citizens of Texas and and I hate to say this, but I feel like our utilities commission has to let us down big time," she said.
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