GREECE, N.Y. — Lisa Seifert, owner of the Lamplighter Restaurant in Greece, is facing a $9,174 RG&E bill, a far cry from her normal monthly bill of $1,100.

“There’s got to be a reason why my bill is 91 hundred dollars. There’s got to be a mistake,” Seifert said.

On June 14, an RG&E employee showed up at the restaurant prepared to shut the power off. That same day, a warning letter arrived in the mail from RG&E, but not until Tuesday, after the employee had already visited.

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC Chief Investigative Reporter: “People have to pay their bills.”

Lisa Seifert: “Of course.”

Berkeley Brean: “But that’s a pretty quick shutoff decision.”

Lisa Seifert: “And I was told not to pay my bill by the employee. She said do not pay your bill. She took me off automatic payment in her office as I sat there.”

Seifert avoided a shut-off on Friday by making an on-the-spot payment of $2,000. However, the issue isn’t over. She received another letter saying she now owes about $7,000.

“I’m sure that I didn’t have a spike in business that my bill went up nine times the normal bill,” Seifert said. “There’s got to be an answer.”

RG&E responded that it does not comment publicly on people’s accounts, but customers typically receive several warnings before a shut-off. A customer service representative called Seifert and said there might have been a mistake with a meter read. They told her to expect a follow-up call Friday.

The full statement from RG&E is as follows:

“While RG&E does not comment publicly on the details of individual customer accounts, we can tell you that customers with a past due balance receive several notifications in addition to their monthly billing statement to prevent disconnections. These notifications include a final termination notice, a phone call attempt, and an in-person field visit to the location to attempt to collect a payment before disconnection of their service.

“There are many factors that can impact a customer’s bill which is exactly why we always encourage customers to reach out to customer service with questions or concerns so our representatives can address them immediately and take the necessary steps to make payment arrangements and help customers manage their energy costs.“

News10NBC will continue to follow this story and provide updates as they become available.

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