Bill error catches up with Texas woman

SAN ANTONIO, May 15 (UPI) -- A Texas woman says she paid her utility bill regularly and was needless to say shocked when she was told she was $8,000 short.

A clerical error is being blamed for the discrepancy, which CPS Energy said resulted in Sandra Rubio not being billed for electricity consumption at her San Antonio home for about five years.

Rubio found out about the problem the hard way in the form of an $8,000 bill.

"When I saw it, I thought it was mistake," Rubio told CNN Radio.

There was a mistake made in 2005 when a new meter was installed at the Rubio residence. CPS Energy told CNN an office employee mistakenly entered a 0 instead of a 1 when it was registered. The result was Rubio was billed for natural gas and baseline electrical service, but not for the electricity that was actually used.

Rubio said she couldn't decipher all of the numbers on her monthly bill and simply wrote a check for the amount owed. "You trust that whatever they send you, whatever that amount is, that's your bill," she said.