Tamworth pensioner Andre Dietrich received the shock of his life when he opened his mail to find a $1,000 electricity bill for one month's usage staring back at him.
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"I'm a single person who lives here," Mr Dietrich said.
"I've got the radio on. In the evening I turn the light on, and I've got to cook for myself, and have something to eat. It's not [supposed to be] that expensive."
Mr Dietrich was incorrectly billed $939.31 for only four weeks - July 16 to August 16 - by his electricity provider.
His provider later amended the amount down to $576.81 after finding earlier meter reads had also been underestimated.
The pensioner has since closed his account and is now with a new energy provider.
A comparison of energy prices for a single person, without concessions, living in Tamworth, showed that Mr Dietrich's energy bill every three months would be around the $500 mark, according to the NSW government Energy Made Easy website.
It comes as complaints to the Energy and Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON) soared by 60 per cent in the most recent quarter from July to September, resulting in an increase of 2,585, to an overall total of 7,029.
The most disputed issues were about the high cost of bills, up 70pc, followed by payment difficulty complaints, up 27pc, price increases, up 49pc, and complaints about concession and rebate errors.
EWON ombudsman Janine Young said the cost of living pressures have affected an increasing number of people in regional NSW.
"Many of whom already face additional barriers in accessing support services when compared to consumers from heavily resourced cities," Ms Young said.
The Leader has also requested a comment from the EWON ombudsman about energy retailers incorrectly charging customers.
For those who want to dispute an energy bill, they are urged to first contact their energy retailer before phoning EWON, who will then be able to investigate the issue for a fairer outcome.
Price hikes of up to 25 per cent were set by the National Energy Regulator (NER) and came into effect from July 1.
Of the three main electricity distributors in NSW, Essential Energy supplies the Tamworth region, with an additional number of energy retailers who then set the price charged to the consumer.
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