We actually had been having the payments automatically debited from our account. This was through no choice of our own, we were late on two payments so we were offered the choice of giving FPL a $400 deposit or going to automatic bill pay; not much of a choice there. Anyway, I put the bill aside figuring I’d take another look at it. Of course, when I put the bill aside I neglected to remember that the bills, actually most of the utility and phone companies are no longer coming a month in advance. We’ve been receiving our bills about two weeks before they are due, not a lot of notice, but that’s another story.

By the time I looked at the FPL bill again it was early in the morning on February 9th. Actually taking the time to go over all of the usage and credits and debits, I realized that this bill had included the credit that FPL had allotted consumers. The actual usage charges were $350 for the month. Needless to say, I flipped out and called FPL.

I expressed to someone in the accounting department that something was very wrong. I explained that in the 17 years that I have been living in this house, I have never received a bill even close to that amount. I informed her about the situation we had dealt when the power was out and told her that the technician who was here had told me that the transformer that was hooked up to our house was also supplying power to a few of our neighbors. I questioned her as to whether that could have affected our usage. I continued to explain to her that while we were hooked up to the transformer, Mike and I had gone out to look at our meter and after having shut virtually everything off in the house, the meter was spinning out of control. She asked me to read the current numbers off of the meter.

After I provided the current numbers in the dials, the woman asked if she could put me on hold. Upon returning to the line she informed me that she would be sending out a technician to look at our meter. Her projection for the current month based on the numbers I read her was $500. Obviously, something is wrong with our meter!!!

In the meantime, I asked her to please remove us from automatic bill pay. I did not want the money pulled from my account before a credit was issued. She agree, told me that nothing was due at that time and that my next payment I would have to pay on my own.

Well, as you might have guessed, I checked my bank account the following morning. My account was debited $205. I called FPL again. This time I was told that the debit was scheduled for the 9th and that in order to have canceled the automatic debit before being charged I would have had to call on the 8th. When someone says, “It’s all the timing,” they know what they’re talking about. On an added note, no sign from the technician as of yet. The saga continues.

Last Friday to my surprise I walked outside to find quite colorful flags and markings all over our lawn. Apparently, the water and cable companies had marked their lines so that FPL would not damage them during the repair. The required repair needed is on an underground electric service cable, although we still have no idea when this repair is to take place.

In the meantime, we received a letter from FPL. Other than stating what we already knew, it also said that repairs would be made by Kilowatt Electric, an FPL approved contractor, within the next 20 days. Let’s review. We had no storms, hurricanes or natural disasters in Florida. As far as we know we are one of the few that are in need of a major repair. Is FPL really that understaffed that they need to hire sub-contractors to do their work? More importantly, are the outrageous rates so high because FPL is hiring sub-contractors? Gives us something to think about.

In addition, the letter also states that the contractor may be required to dig on our property and that any obstruction must be removed. It further specifies that these obstructions such as driveways, sidewalks, patios, etc. are to be replaced at the customer’s expense. As you can imagine, this got my attention. I fully understand that a problem inside our house might be our expense to repair; emphasis on might! A necessary repair for the underground cable, I think not!

Three phone calls later, I have been informed that in most cases tearing up structures is not required. As I sit and wait with Murphy on my shoulder, I wonder where this adventure will lead. More to come…