Placerville woman says PG&E overcharged her for years

Imagine receiving a PG&E bill for more than $600 for a 100-square-foot apartment. That's what one Placerville woman says she experienced before recently discovering she may have been paying for electricity used by her neighbor for years.

Jennifer Turner has lived in an apartment near downtown Placerville since 2020. She said her monthly bills were initially around $50 to $80 but eventually climbed into the hundreds.

"It's been so incredibly hard to make this payment for so many years," Turner said. "It didn't matter what I did because it was just so outrageous and incorrect."

Turner said her bills sometimes reached more than $400 or even $600 a month, despite living in the same apartment.

"My bill was about $50 a month at the highest, maybe $80," she said. "Throughout all of these years, I've lived in the same place, the downstairs neighbors have switched twice, and my bill at times is $400, $375, sometimes $625 for one month."

Turner showed CBS Sacramento several bills reflecting the increases. She believes PG&E was billing her for both her electricity and her downstairs neighbor's usage.

PG&E has confirmed that there was an error with Turner's billing.

Turner said she contacted the utility several times and tried to reduce her energy use by signing up for available conservation programs and limiting her electricity consumption.

PG&E said it investigated the issue and corrected Turner's account for the past three years, which the company said is the maximum period allowed under California Public Utilities Commission tariff rules.

The company also said it issued Turner a check for about $1,170, estimating that amount represented approximately $32 per month in overcharges.

For Turner, the reimbursement is not enough.

"I would have just paid it and been fine with it, but when we're talking hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars, it was almost insulting," she said.

Turner said the experience has also raised concerns about potentially lost utility discounts, incorrect rate-plan benefits and whether other customers could be experiencing similar billing problems.

"I don't really have a lot of trust in them, to be quite honest with you," she said.

Turner said she asked PG&E to install new meters in both apartments, which the company did. Her landlord also had an electrician check the meters, but Turner said the electrician did not find an apparent problem.

She is now asking PG&E for an itemized breakdown showing how the company calculated the $1,170 reimbursement. Turner believes she is owed more for the years she says she was overcharged.

PG&E also addressed Turner's complaint with the CPUC, saying the commission referred the matter to the company for a response.

"PG&E received no follow-up questions or asks from the CPUC, which means the CPUC issued a case closure notice to the customer reiterating we have complied with the rules and tariffs," the company told CBS Sacramento.

Turner, however, said she has not received that notice.