A Fullerton single mother was relieved of a $6,000 bill from SoCal Edison after she reached out to the NBC4 I-Team for help regarding the matter.
Taylor Kincy shares a Fullerton home with several roommates. The utilities used to be in a roommate’s name, and she paid her portion of the bills directly to him. When he moved out two years ago, Kincy switched the utilities to her name. But recently, SoCal Edison told the single mom she owed past bills that her roommate, the previous account holder, never paid.
“I can’t believe they’d put $6,000 on my bill, when it was under someone else’s name,” she said.
Investigations
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That’s right, SoCal Edison was collecting $6,000 from Kincy. She didn’t have the money to pay it, and she didn’t think she should have to; she had proof she’d paid her former roommate.
But the I-Team learned that the California Public Utilities Commision allows SoCal Edison, and other investor-owned electric utilities, to collect from anyone who benefited from the service, even if the account wasn’t in their name. So, since Kincy lived at the property, SoCal Edison could collect from her.
“They’ll just put it on whoever they want to get money from. And they don’t care that I’m a single mother or I have very little income,” said Kincy.
SoCal Edison told the I-Team that it always tries to collect from the account holder first. But we still had questions about Kincy’s case. Why were they sticking Kincy with the bill, and not the other 12 roommates? Kincy also had proof that she’d pay her former roommate for the bills, so why wouldn’t Edison consider that?
We shared these questions before our interview with SoCal Edison earlier this summer, but the company didn’t have many answers.
“I couldn't tell you specifically, every situation is different,” said SoCal Edison spokesperson David Eisenhauer.
The company didn’t budge on Kincy’s $6,000 bill.
“That’s a crazy amount, especially for someone else’s debt,” she said.
But after our story aired, SoCal Edison called Kincy and told her it was wiping out the debt.
We wanted to give SoCal Edison the opportunity to explain why, but an hour before an on-camera interview, they canceled, and instead issued a statement that said, in part: “We worked closely with the customer before, during and after the previous NBC story. We are pleased the issue has been resolved.”
The I-Team asked SoCal Edison if it changed its policy about collecting from people other than the account holder, or if Kincy’s case was a one-time exception. The company didn’t respond to that specific question.
Kincy’s just relieved this is finally behind her.
“I can use that money to support my son, have fun with him over the summer, just bond with him, hang out with him. Instead of paying for 12 people’s electric bill,” she said.
If you share bills with roommates, SoCal Edison suggests you ask for a copy of the bill each month to verify the amount due and that the previous month’s balance was paid.
