KILGORE, Texas — East Texans are shocked with the high electricity bills they are receiving after the severe storms that passed through the area a month ago.
SWEPCO customers are experiencing higher bills, even some folks who went without power for days like Kilgore resident Justyne Jackson.
"To kind of have our bill jump so high without using it, is what just took us by surprise," Jackson said.
It was an unpleasant surprise for Jackson who said her bill was over one hundred dollars more than the previous month.
"Again we went four days without power and we spent a week away. Our bill was $217.97 for this billing cycle," Jackson said.
She reached out to SWEPCO asking them the same question many have Why is the bill so high, even though the power was out for days?
"They informed us that the reason that it was so high is because the usage went up," Jackson said.
According to SWEPCO representative Mark Robinson, they're trying to keep their homes cool as the temperatures continues to rise.
"It’s summertime, everybody is home (and) it’s extremely hot," Robinson said. "And again, while the power was out for a little bit, a majority of our customers came back in 2-3 days and that’s about a tenth of the month."
Robinson said customers were not charged for the days they didn’t have any power.
"If there’s no electricity going through that meter, you’re not getting charged for that," Robinson said.
The increase in cost still puzzles Jackson as she runs a bakery from her house with appliances constantly running.
"I would say on average eight hours a day, every day. Constantly 24/7 (with) a movie going on to distract the kids," Jackson said.
With no power to run her business, those appliances are not in use. She was also out of town on vacation for a week.
"We didn’t use much power, I run a home bakery. Didn’t work for a month so for them to say that kilowatts did go up doesn’t make sense when we kept our AC at 80 degree out of town and our home got to 86 for those days without power," Jackson said.
SWEPCO does say if there is a mistake in your bill to contact them for a possible solution. They also have payment assistance options which can be found HERE.