Bronxville family thanks News 12 for help with a hefty home gas bill

The family says they tried to sort this out with ConEd for months, but with barely a response, they reached out to News 12.

Emily Young

Jul 3, 2024, 9:23 PM

Updated 176 days ago

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A Westchester man, who prefers to remain anonymous, is thanking News 12 for help with a hefty home gas bill.
He first reached out to News 12 in June with $25,000 in bills from Con Edison.
He and his family paid $11,000, but still owed $15,000 for a period of seven months, a number they said was impossible.
"We cut back on heat to only do what we were legally mandated to do by our contract, which was to keep it on 55 degrees at night in order to ensure the pipes didn't burst," he explained.
The family says they tried to sort this out with ConEd for months, but with barely a response, they reached out to News 12.
"Immediately, when I reached out to the news, and when Emily published this story, the next day Con Edison came to our door, and the reason that's so significant is because it took seven months for that to happen," he says.
Finally, the problem was found: an improperly installed smart meter that was calculating seven times the speed it should have.
After News 12's reporting, that $15,000 bill disappeared, and the family was reimbursed more than $2,600 with interest.
"Only by publicly getting the company to be shamed, does the company do something, which is horrible, but yeah big thanks to News 12," he said.
A spokesperson for Con Edison confirmed that the problems had been resolved, and the billing was adjusted.