A Brooklyn, New York, resident was saddled with more than $31,000 in charges by Con Edison in connection with a Bronx property she had never set foot in or seen.
The dispute stretched on for months, leaving her to fight the mysterious debt while trying to keep electricity on at the home where she actually lives.
Here's what to know
Diana Wright was shocked to find her typical $183 power bill jumped to $31,850. According to WABC, Wright has lived in Flatbush since 2011, but the bill covered eight years of unpaid utility service at the ground-floor apartment of a multiunit house in the Bronx, about 20 miles from her home.
After she was threatened with power cutoffs if she didn't settle her bill, Wright questioned the charge and was told she needed to provide proof, including an employer letter, a Federal Trade Commission complaint, and a police report.
During the review, Wright said she had to call each month for extensions to prevent service at her Brooklyn home from being shut off.
More background
Wright told WABC that she works two jobs — one in administrative support and another as a paralegal. She said that despite that, the company disconnected her service in May 2025 after she missed a deadline by one day while the dispute was ongoing.
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"They forced me to pay $650 to turn on the lights at my actual home. I owe over $41,000 now because it's accumulating interest," Wright said.
WABC also contacted the Department of Environmental Protection to review related records. A DEP spokesperson confirmed, "We do not have any record of a Diane Wright associated with this property," further showing no clear documentation links Wright to the Bronx address.
What's being done?
Wright's case was resolved after the station stepped in and contacted Con Edison. To show she had never lived at the Bronx property, she assembled records including multiple years of pay stubs, past and current leases, tax returns, and utility statements.
Along with the DEP records, Wright said the original $31,000 tied to the Bronx home was removed, along with roughly $10,000 in accumulated interest.
"I'm very grateful. I should have listened to my parents ages ago. No one listened to me until I called you, and your team started pushing them," Wright said.
In a statement, Con Edison said, "Scams and identity theft victimize consumers across many industries, including utilities." The company added: "After working with this customer and reviewing the documentation that we needed, we removed the disputed charges from her account last winter and refunded the $650 payment."
The utility also said it shares scam-prevention tips and encouraged customers to contact the company promptly about billing problems.
Where can I learn more?
Other utility-bill stories show how quickly costs can spiral. The stories below look at sudden bill spikes, expensive equipment problems, and broader fights over how utilities spend or pass along customer money.
• A homeowner blamed new energy-efficient appliances for rising bills, drawing pushback over a scam theory.
• A faulty dryer drove cripplingly expensive energy bills, and Reddit users urged efficiency fixes.
• Utilities have been using electricity bill money on transmission projects that critics question.
• Communities are mounting a grassroots fight against utilities over persistently high bills.
• PacifiCorp asked Oregon regulators to bill customers for $1.7 billion in wildfire damages.
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