'I hope they made a mistake. It's a million gallons of water'
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EUGENE, Ore. - Ivan Polk recently moved out of a rental house and bought a home of his own.
Then the University of Oregon employee got his final Eugene Water and Electric Board bill from the rental.
"I hope they made a mistake," Polk recalled thinking. "It's $8,500. It's a million gallons of water."
They made a mistake, said Joe Harwood at EWEB.
"What happened was essentially a transcription error that added up to an added extra digit to Mr. Polk's water use and hence when he opened his bill he had severe sticker shock," he said. "We usually catch those, but in this case, which is fairly rare, we actually had one that slipped through."
Harwood said the utility investigated the bill after getting a call from KVAL News. EWEB corrected the bill.
That pleased Polk, who said his $8,500 bill will be a more reasonable $150.
I once got a $25,000 water bill. Obviously, someone pushed the number zero a few times too many. This was back when our water bills were between $22 and $27 a month.
KVAL, Please for the love of all that's good in the world, lose the auto-start video!!! Nothing more annoying than getting one paragraph into an article, and then a video you didn't want to watch starts blasting out of your speakers. We can press 'play' if we want to watch it, mmkay?
@Bill Vincent I dislike auto play videos too, but KVAL doesn't auto start for me.
My sewer bill is higher than my water bill. Â It costs more to flush the toilet than it does to fill it. Â I have an irrigation well on my property, but it's not safe to drink without treating the water. Every time they jack up the rates, Â I seriously consider switching over to the well and setting up a solar electric system to run the pump. Â A couple more rate hikes and it will be cost effective.Â
@Arch Stanton Could be for a while, but you know what they are considering up there in Salem, yep, meters on private wells. They are in the process of trying to figure a way to keep a rebellion down if they decide to go ahead with the plan, You see they won't stop until they have it all. You really don't own anything, they just let you think you do. It is called progressive slavery. They can spin, lie, gnash their teeth, bully, threaten, coerce and do what ever they want, it is called Progressive and fair.  We have to get liberty back and get them out of office.
I heard today if you make yourself exceedingly wealthy like chavez in the name of helping the poor that is ok. But if you work hard and earn every penny of it you are mean and greedy. How the he11 did we get to this?
@Metalshaper My belief is that it started in our schools a long time ago and ramped up to full scale indoctrination around the mid to late 60's. They have attempted to remove any reference to family values, pushed to get any kind of reference to creationism out of the class room. They employed and continue to employ the Darwin theory. It will only get worse until we stop the progressive movement. We have to get away from reliance on Government for anything other than National Defense. Social Security and medicare will take care of itself if they quit tapping it, and get rid of all the extra government stuff and get back to private enterprise.
EWEB bills for Water & Electricity (EWEB charges) and for Wastewater & Stormwater (City of Eugene charges). The average monthly water bill for EWEB customers is $27.07; for SUB it's $21.80; for Portland it's $41.12. I understand how someone would think Portland's water rates are "insane", but by comparison we have it pretty good here in Eugene/Springfield. It's likely the $150 bill is for more than just water.
@John Simpson you wouldn't be the same John Simpson that sat/sits on the EWEB board? Eugene's rates are fairly high,and what is "average"? I have a friend who is very careful with the electricity and water they use,and the bill is always far higher than $27.07 for water.
EWEB's rates are insane,and I think they get away with it because Portland also has insane rates. I could totally understand a $150 a month water bill where the water had to be piped in,like the desert. I live in Spokane,WA now,I've never paid more than $11.00 for my water usage,my water,sewer,and trash are about $88.00 each month. When I was living in Eugene it cost me often times over $90.00 for electric for a 1 bedroom apartement. I miss my friends and family,but I sure don't miss Eugene. Veneta has high rates because they misjudged the size of the sewer system 20+ years ago,and I recall a failed well. Also did not help rates when they were caught dumping sewer onto private land and ended up getting sued.
@Eric B. Larson It was his entire bill, not just water. EWEB bills for power, water, and sewer. Most of the bill, obviously, was an error.
Springfield Utility Board is much better, you should move here.
@Lexxi Con SUB is amazing. I live in Eugene and have considered Springfield in large part due to SUB.
MIstake? That looks like a Veneta water and sewer bill. If there was ever a reason to not move to this hole run by inbreds, the cost of utilites would be enough of one.
@OregonOrator Or Harrisburg....and you can't even drink it.
EWEB and I had a billing dispute back in the last century..about $9.00 as I recall. Sent them lots of memos and letters with their billings for about three months....no joy. They then used IBM punch cards for billing and payment. I went over to Duck U and added a random selection of holes to their billing/payment document at the Computer Science Center and sent it back to them with writing on the punch card. It completely shut down their IBM computer. I received a personal phone call and corrective action and a request that I NEVER EVER do that again!Â
I'm tired of the monopoly on power and water in Eugene.
EWEB is corrupt and worthless. They will tell you to your face they (costumer service) have NEVER had a meter go bad. Yet they do, and even there own employees are disgusted with them and admit it. This is an outrage by any standards. Try and find a Utility lawyer in town/Lane county????? Thats right, there isn't one. How can our community go on with this company in the face of such corruption? Remember when EWEB screws up, WE pay. Please look up for yourself "why" we have had to pay more over the years! It will make you sick.........
A water bill of $150. Is that for the year?, I would certainly hope it is not for a month, and if so I can see why he moved.
@souptonuts Total last bill. Water/sewer/power/
@souptonuts My husband and I pay more for water and sewer in Veneta than a coworker of mine who is married and has two teenage daughters in Eugene does.
@OregonOrator @souptonuts Yes, I have heard that Veneta has high water rates. What is that new water line going to do for your prices, up or down? Is that a dumb question?
@souptonuts @OregonOrator I heard water rates are going up 6% in Veneta with the new pipeline. My last bill from them was $90 for my water/sewer, its ridiculous.
No mistake. It is a reflection of the rate increases constantly put into effect by EWEB.