Electric Bills Add Insult to Injury For Hurricane Sandy Victims

As if Hurricane Sandy victims haven’t had enough trouble — now they’re getting electric bills that are higher than usual, even though many of them have been without power for weeks after the Oct. 29 storm.

Long Island Power Authority customers got their full bills, which were estimated and covered the entire billing cycle, and the the bills didn’t make any reference to refunds or deductions for Sandy, said the Daily News.

One customer said he got two bills from the company – one for $649 for the Long Beach home he moved from in October and another $281 for the new home he has in Great Neck.

Jonathan Saporta said he moved to the Great Neck home on Oct. 1 and got a bill for a 43-day cycle, including two weeks he spent without power following Hurricane Sandy.

I can’t get LIPA to acknowledge my existence on earth to talk to me about anything. But I guess they had power, so they could print my bills. Nice, right?

Saporta said he’s not going to pay the bills, but he’ll fight them “tooth and nail. It’s simply criminal.”

Attorney Michael Hilferty, from Long Beach, got a bill on email on Thanksgiving for $1 more than his bill last month. The lawyer got seven feet of water in his oceanfront home, which was piled four-feet-deep with sand. He hasn’t lived in the house since the storm came in, but he got a bill for a full 29 days of electrical service.