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A California man was shocked to learn that he had been paying his neighbor's electricity bill for at least 18 years. Ken Wilson told KGO that he noticed his electricity bill spiked over the last few months.
At first, Wilson cut back on his electricity usage and bought a device to monitor how much energy his appliances were using.
"Even after I turned off my breakers, I kept going outside to check my meter to see if it was still running, and it was still running," Wilson told the news station. "I couldn't believe it."
Wilson then contacted Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), which sent a technician to his apartment to check out his meter. The technician quickly realized something wasn't right. The electric company discovered that his neighbor's meter was also being billed to his account.
PG&E fixed the issue and admitted their mistake, crediting Wilson $600 to compensate him for the overpayments.
"We sincerely apologize for the oversight and regret any inconvenience caused by the duration of this issue," a spokesperson for the utility company said.