MAURICE, LA (KADN) - A Maurice property owner is gaining a lot of attention on social media after posting a picture of an Entergy bill which states that he used zero kilowatts of electricity.
Michael Trahan thought that by turning off the breaker on one of his property’s nine meters, he would have a cheaper electricity bill. But when he finally got this past month’s bill back, it was still over $100.
“Charge me for what I use don’t charge me for what you think I'm going to use,” Trahan said.
When Trahan purchased a commercial property in Maurice last year, he didn’t realize just how much his electricity bills would be. One of his meters that he rarely uses has a hefty monthly bill.
“It might run 160, 150 a month,” he said.
After months of feeling like he was being “over charged”, he decided to do a test and turn off the breaker.But when he got his bill back, it wasn’t that much cheaper.
“A monthly bill of $115 for exactly zero kilowatts being used,” he explained.
Photo of Michael Trahan's Entergy bill.
After taking a closer look, he realized he was only charged for fees.
“Customer charge $36, demand charge $20, Entergy charge $2, a formulary rate plan of 62%,” he said.
At first, Trahan felt he was getting the runaround when he tried contacting Entergy's call center.
“You basically get nothing. I’m being very polite when I say you’re getting a circus,” he said.
When he was able to speak with someone, he found out that commercial accounts have more charges and fees than residential accounts.
“I have to pay a higher amount for gas going in a Lamborghini versus a Vespa. It doesn't matter. So why should Entergy charge be different from a residential customer versus a commercial customer?,” he stressed.
Now, the property owner feels that he is stuck paying Entergy forever due to that being the only electricity provider in the area.
“You have choices on almost every single activity for your home, when it comes down to power, you are nailed. This is what you’re going to use and this is how you're going to use it. If you don't like our charges well, tough,” he said.
A representative from Entergy describes Trahan bill as a “unique case” in a statement to News15. Read Entergy’s full statement below.
“Without divulging customer specific information, Entergy Louisiana can confirm that this is a very unique case, and the customer did, in fact, acquire commercial property in Maurice with multiple meters and accounts including several which were commercial accounts. Commercial accounts are billed differently than residential accounts. Commercial accounts subject to the rate schedule historically applied to these accounts have a contracted minimum rate, regardless of usage. The customer is in the process of converting some of these meters from commercial to residential, pending Entergy Louisiana’s meter verification process to confirm that the accounts will qualify as residential accounts. Entergy Louisiana will continue to work with this customer to resolve this situation appropriately.”
Trahan told News15 that he pays nearly $1,000 in bills to Entergy for his commercial property each month.
