Farmers win fight over $12,000 SaskPower bill
Provincial ombudsman goes to bat for Saskatchewan farm couple
Talk about a shocker. A Saskatchewan farm couple thought they were getting a big refund only to be told they owed SaskPower $12,000.
Their story was detailed in the 2015 Saskatchewan ombudsman's report, which was released Thursday.
According to the report from ombudsman Mary McFadyen, eyebrows went up when "Jane and Ivan" (not their real names) got their power bill and the Crown utility said they were getting a $2,000 credit.
The family contacted SaskPower to find out why they were getting the credit and, hopefully, how they could cash it in.
Then things went sideways.
The company came back to the couple saying there was a mistake. Instead of getting a $2,000 credit, the farmers now owed SaskPower $12,000.
They were told their power would get cut off if they didn't pay up. SaskPower offered them a 20 per cent discount, but the couple decided to go the the ombudsman instead.
After more calls and meetings, SaskPower realized they had made another mistake. This time, fixing it was good news for Jane and Ivan.
SaskPower apologized and knocked $10,000 off the bill.
"As a result, Jane and Ivan only owed a fraction of the original sum and they were given additional time to pay it off to minimize any financial pressure," the ombudsman's report said.
The case of Jane and Ivan was one of 2,813 complaints within the provincial ombudsman's jurisdiction received in 2015 — up 22 per cent from 2014.