By James B. Bartle
Sullivan residents, Jessica and Danny Wegescheide, thought moving their family to Sullivan from Bourbon would bring the family closer to school and work, along with the advantages of living in a bigger town.
Those thoughts recently turned to disaster as the family got their first two utility bills from the City of Sullivan for their rental house on South Mansion.
Our first utility bill was over $500 for January and, then in February, the utility bill was $762.80; the electric alone for February was $641.31,” said Wegescheide. “ The homeowners who previously lived in the home stated that they had never had an electric bill over $500.”
Wegescheide stated that she contacted City Hall and was told that the highest bill for that home was 4,000 kilowatt hours and in her February bill she was charged for 7,727 KWH.
“We use all Energy Star appliances and have the energy efficient electric bulbs in the home,” said Wegescheide. “We have always kept our electric heater thermostat at 67 degrees, just like in Bourbon. We are used to that temperature. I just don’t understand this bill. We never had a bill over $400 in Bourbon.”
Wegescheide went on to say, “It’s just insane. I don’t know how people are living here. I can’t see us paying $1,300 a month for rent and utilities in a rental house. I’m a full-time student in college, my husband works around the clock, we’re never home. We come home with the kids, feed them, bath them and then it’s time for bed.”
Wegescheide feels that there has got to be something wrong with her electric meter.
“I’ve called city hall and, honestly, I think there is something wrong with our meter,” said Wegescheide. “I’ve called and spoken with city collector Judy McPherson about the bill and all she told me was ‘that’s normal for the bill.’ I asked McPherson to have the city come out and check the meter and that I wanted to be here when they did check it. She refused to give me a  time for the city employee to come out and read the meter.”
Wegescheide stated that she did some research into electric kilowatt hour use and the average in the state of Missouri for a household is 1,100 KWH.
“This means my family is using seven times the national average for electric,” said Wegesheide. “It’s like I said, we’re never home. I have no idea how people on a fixed income can pay these types of bills.”
Wegesheide stated that another statement made by the city was that it was a cold winter and electric use was up.
“I looked this statement up and in St. Louis, which is the closest example I could find, there were 18 colder days in January than in February. Yet my electric bill was $260 higher in February than January,” said Wegesheide.
Wegescheide stated that she planned to address the Sullivan City Council at its regular meeting on Tuesday night to discuss her concerns and rates.
A growing amount of conversation on this issue has developed on the social website, Facebook, which indicates that several people will be attending the council meeting on Tuesday night to voice their concerns.