Saskatoon seniors in shock after getting massive power bill

A retired Saskatoon couple says they're being forced to scale back Christmas after they received a bill from SaskPower for almost ten times more than usual.

A retired Saskatoon couple says they're being forced to scale back Christmas after they received a bill from SaskPower for almost ten times more than usual.

Their monthly bills seldom run over $300, so seeing a bill for $2,991.32 was stressful for the couple, both in their late 70s and on a pension.

“Where am I going to get the money to pay this? It was such a shock,” Gayle Hersikorn told CTV News.

They’re on the equalized payment plan through SaskPower, which basically averages out power consumption and spreads it out throughout the year so bills are consistent.

They say a spike last winter during January to March could be the reason they now have to pay the massive increase, but it is still unclear.

“How can it jump like that in one month, compared to the last three months, I said how can this be. It doesn’t make sense. We’ve done nothing different and had nothing running,” she says.

“There are several reasons why a customer’s bill may fluctuate from month to month including an increase in usage, a customer on equalized payments receiving a ‘catch-up’ bill following a routine meter read, or an account going into arrears, to name a few,” a SaskPower spokesperson said in a statement to CTV News.