Atmos Energy sent out bills with incorrect past due amounts, but is fixing the problem.
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Some Atmos customers received unwelcome surprises in their natural gas bills this month — unexpected past due amounts.
The charges, however, were in error. Atmos, in comments to its local NBC affiliate, acknowledged that it delivered erroneous bills in July to some of its customers, and that in some cases the mistakes were substantial. For instance, one Atmos customer reported to the media that he received a bill incorrectly showing a $2,000 past-due amount, when in reality he owed just $45.
Atmos said that fewer than 3 percent of its outgoing bills were in error. However — given that Atmos serves more than 2 million customers statewide — that means that tens of thousands of people may have been affected.
Atmos says that after becoming aware of the errors it began notifying customers via email, when possible. The company also told the NBC affiliate in Dallas that corrected bills are being sent out, and that customers will not be charged late fees because of the errors.
Customers who use the company’s automatic paperless bill payment services will not be overcharged, according to the company. It also encourages any customer with questions about the billing errors to contact customer service by phone at 888-286-6700.