《中英對照讀新聞》Texas woman gets $1.4M utility bill in error 德州婦女拿到140萬元的錯誤電費帳單
◎張沛元
A lot of people gripe when they get high summertime electric bills. But Kristin Harriger’s bill was nearly $1.4 million.
不少人在拿到夏季高電費帳單時都會抱怨。但克莉絲汀.哈瑞吉的帳單金額卻將近140萬美元。
The Abilene, Texas, woman immediately called her provider, Potentia Energy. She quickly learned that her bill was an error.
這名德州艾比林的婦女立刻致電電力公司,波坦尼亞能源,很快發現她的帳單錯了。
The utility provider also excused a $66,000 late fee listed on the bill.
電力公司也減免了帳單上所列的6萬6000美元滯納金。
Potentia told the Abilene Reporter-News it had flagged the bill and had marked it to be held, but the bill mistakenly got sent out.
波坦尼亞能源公司告訴艾比林記者新聞報說,他們原本將這份帳單做了記號要暫時扣著不寄發出去,但結果卻還是被誤寄出去了。
The bill said Harriger was being charged 100,000 cents, or $1,000, per kilowatt hour. The normal rate ranges from 8.2 cents to 12.1 cents.
帳單顯示,哈瑞吉每千瓦小時的電費是10萬美分,也就是1000美元。正常費率是(每千瓦小時)從8.2美分到12.1美分。
Carmen Balver, director of the nonprofit protection group Consumer Watchdog recommended contacting state officials if people run into difficulty while trying to settle a dispute about an over-the-top bill.(AP)
非營利組織「消費者守門人」主任卡門.巴爾瓦建議,民眾試圖解決超高金額帳單的爭議時若遭遇困難,應該與州政府官員聯繫。(美聯社)
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