Georgia Homeowner Faces $6.7k Bill After Power Surge Fries Appliances

A Georgia homeowner claims that her electric company is behind a $6,700 bill she just received. No, it’s not because she ran up her utility bill; instead, she claims it’s because one of Georgia Power’s underground systems failed, sending a surge of electricity into her home.

The voltage fluctuation fried several of her appliances and home systems, which all need to be repaired or replaced. Lynn Kaden told WSB-TV2 about the issue, claiming that Georgia Power is refusing to take financial responsibility for the damage. 

That has left Kaden with a pretty big bill and no help with paying it. Now, she’s worried about what caused the failure. And whether it could happen again.

Unfortunately, this isn’t exactly a rare occurrence, and it seems like many people have found themselves in the same boat as Kaden with the same response from the electric provider. 

The Homeowner Was Watching TV When Everything Happened

A low-key Saturday night at home quickly turned into a four-figure ordeal when Kaden noticed something funny going on with her power. “Alarms start going off, lights start blinking in all parts of the house,” she recalled to WSB-TV2. The issue was apparently caused by the failure of the line that Georgia Power uses to balance the voltage that is distributed to Kaden’s home.

The issue affected several different parts of her home, including her stove, fridge, HVAC system, and even the lights, all of which she estimates will add up to $6,700 in repairs. 

But when she sent a claim to Georgia Power to cover the cost of the repairs, the company denied it since the issue couldn’t have been “reasonably foreseen or prevented.” 

“I just couldn’t understand how I’m responsible for $6,700 by just sitting and watching my television,” Kaden told a WSB-TV2 reporter.

While Rare, This Story Isn’t Unique

A quick search into this situation found examples from others who said they went through the same thing, like an 82-year-old California woman who emailed Kiplinger about her problem. While the utility company in this example did offer to offset some of the costs from a power surge (this one was caused by a truck lurching into a power pole), it would only cut a check for the actual cash value of the appliances. 

Since many of the elderly woman’s electronics were several years old, she was given a check for next to nothing. So she reached out to her homeowner’s insurance company. While a representative told her that the insurance company would replace everything, the agent also informed her that her premiums would double. 

According to Kiplinger, how these situations are handled will vary depending on state laws as well as whether the utility company is liable. In Kaden’s case, the company didn’t admit liability since the issue wasn’t caused by negligence, which allowed it to avoid paying.

However, in the California example, the utility admitted fault, but wasn’t required to replace the appliances, only to offer actual cash value, putting both homeowners in a terrible position.

You Can Protect Yourself Against This Issue

So, how do you avoid finding yourself in a similar situation? According to Generac, a whole-home surge protector could be the solution. They are installed by an electrician at your breaker panel and can protect your appliances in the event of a surge.  

Angi puts the cost of installing one of these at around $300, depending on a few different factors, making it an inexpensive fix to a potentially costly problem.