Jump in electric bills jolts residents

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Renters at a northwest Albuquerque apartment complex were left wondering why they got such a whopping electric bill nearly totaling $300.

So far the tenants have been left with a lot of questions and empty wallets.

Jon Penner was shocked to open his bill this month and see he owed $270.

“I thought, 'Oh, man, they must not be getting my payments because this is insane,'” Penner said.

Penner said his highest electricity bill at his old apartment was no more than $60.

Penner said he was expecting a higher bill because they gained an extra 100 square feet, added a washer and dryer and the heater runs off electricity. However, he said he didn’t expect anything like this.

“We have the heat off. We have it off for most of the time,” Penner said.

Penner’s neighbor, Amanda Franks, felt the same way.

“Total heart attack," Franks said.  "Oh my goodness.  I have to pay $300 in utilities this month."

She said her family changed their routine since then but there was little change in their bill.

“We barely get the heater above 68. We let the sunlight get into our house. We have four blankets on beds," Franks said.  "Just completely changed the way we were living, and the next bill was another $294."

Then she found out that other renters at the sprawling complex near Coors Boulevard NW and Alameda Road were raising questions too.

“My husband went to go talk to management, and they had other bills from other apartments saying everybody else is having the same problem,” Franks said.

Management then sent a letter saying the cause is PNM’s three-tiered system of electric rates. Under the system, once you exceed a certain amount of electricity you are bumped up to a higher rate.

The apartment manager said it's new. However, PNM said its not and thinks people in the complex must be using a ton of electricity.

“If you heat with electricity or cool with electricity in the summer it’s possible that your bill will get into that higher rate,” PNM spokesperson Susan Sponar said.

“Unless our heater is using over $200 electricity a month it seems a little bizarre,” Penner said.

PNM said it won’t know for sure until crews check it out. That's exactly what tenants want.

“If you're having all these complaints about how high bills are there maybe you should come to those residences and check things over voluntarily,” Franks said.

PNM encourages customers to call if they think there is something wrong with their bills and they can send someone to check their meters.

Franks and Penner said they have.

PNM said the three-tiered system was put in place to reward and encourage conservation.