Man overcharged on his electric bill for 20 years

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    BOWLEGS, OK (KFOR ) — An Oklahoma man recently found out he has been overcharged by his electric company for over 20 years, leaving him out thousands of dollars.

“I didn’t know there was anything wrong until not too long ago, my daughter started paying the electric bill,” homeowner Paul Northcott said. “I paid it for 22 years and was never late, not one time.”

Northcott said he was being charged a commercial rate all those years, not residential, causing him to overpay thousands of dollars.

But after two different phone calls with OG&E, Northcott thought his money was long gone. He said they refused to reimburse him.

“Later that evening he called me back, and he kind of got smart with me. He said, ‘You should have known this.’ I said, ‘How in the hell am I supposed to know it,’” Northcott said.

With nowhere left to turn, one of his daughters contacted News 4.

“We were at our wit’s end,” said Tammy Brewer, Northcott’s daughter. “I just figured he’d get better treatment than that, at least somebody to listen and to look into what he was saying.”

We called OG&E ourselves, hoping to get to the bottom of the issue. They told News 4 they can’t comment on personal accounts.

But there’s a happy ending to this story. The next day, a resolution. Northcott’s daughter said he’s now getting a check for $4,700.

“He’s happy about it. He said, ‘Well good.’ He’s happy for you guys and happy I called you guys,” Brewer said. “It took getting you guys to make them do that. I just want to thank everybody at News 4.”

We did speak with OG&E again on Friday. They said they are still unable to comment because it is a personal account. But the family tells News 4 they’re happy with the resolution.

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