East Vancouver woman gets $13,000 gas bill

It’s the last thing you’d want to see your inbox.

This East Vancouver mom got a $13,000 gas bill from FortisBC, with payment due by the end of the month.

“I’m a single mom. I’m a single stay-at-home mom. I can’t afford it. I’m on income assistance. Like, this city is already sky high, expensive,” said Jade Samson.

Samson has lived in the same place since 2005, and says it can be an icebox when the heat’s not working. She says the single-pane windows don’t keep in the heat very well and the fireplace isn’t very effective either.

Three years ago when her son Declan was born, Samson says she came back from the hospital and the heat was turned off.

Unable to pay the heat bill, she says she asked her ex-partner to take over the gas account, and she says she thought her heat was taken care of for the next three years.

“Three years down the road, I got a phone call last week from Fortis telling me that the heat was disconnected in November 2020. And that I was now responsible for backpay to when the heat was disconnected, and I had no idea that the heat was disconnected. I never got a letter. I never got an email. I never got a phone call. Nothing,” Samson explained. “So, now here I am with a $13,000 furnace bill. I don’t think it’s fair for them to ask me to pay for three years of a mistake that they made.”

After CityNews reached out to FortisBC about Samson’s situation, the company called her back hours later with a new deal.

“Now instead of backdating for three years – they’re going to backdate it six months, from the time of contact, which was, they contacted me March 7th.”

When asked about how she’s feeling after FortisBC changed their minds, Samson says she’s “relieved.”

In a statement, a FortisBC spokesperson couldn’t provide details of her new payment plan but says in part, “At this time, we will be issuing a new invoice which is substantially less than what was originally owed.”

Samson is still waiting for the official amount she will have to pay.

CityNews asked Samson why she thinks FortisBC changed their tune.

“Because I got in touch with you guys,” she answered with a laugh.