Town Shuts Off Electricity to Hundreds With Overdue Bills
389 views · Published 11 December 2012 · 2:18 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: WLOS News 13 · 2012 · News & Politics
A town utility billing clerk gives some utility customers a free ride without the town's permission. That left some homes and businesses in Macon County without power last week. Highlands town officials say they had no choice but to cut off power to dozens of businesses and homeowners because of the unpaid bills.The town owns the power utility, along with water and sewer services. The power shutdowns began last week following mailed notices to people who hadn't paid bills in months or hadn't asked why they weren't getting a bill.The town racked up more than 00,000 in unpaid accounts by the time they discovered the billing clerk's problem. The town fired him and is looking for a replacement. They also plan to train staff members on how to use the billing software to provide some checks and balances.Follow Sherrill Barber on Twitter @SherrillBarber _______________ Follow WLOS on social media: WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/News13/ WLOS ABC 13 News on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WLOS_13 WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wlos_13 Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Channel/?sub_confirmation=1 Listen to AnchorMOMS, the Podcast: https://wlos.com/news/anchormoms/anchormoms-the-podcast Watch more top local news stories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk8Ge6UXHJs&list=PLkVbaoT-aYbIvnEpR0Ct5QQQqYaORUSUH For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit http://www.wlos.com Watch our live newscasts and other live video at https://wlos.com/watch Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340 WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.
