A Kelowna man who lost his house in a fire early this year says FortisBC continues to charge him for electricity even though his home is no longer standing.

Photo Credit: Gary Fong/Facebook

Gary Fong took to Facebook this month to share his story about receiving a $4,500 electricity bill from FortisBC. Fong’s 5,000 square foot log home burned down in January, leaving nothing but an empty lot in its place. But that hasn’t stopped FortisBC from collecting money from Fong as he says he has received a $1,800 monthly bill for electricity.

“We asked them to come up and read the meter, and they said, ‘yup! Meter is accurate’,” said Fong on Facebook.

Fong's rancher after it burned to the ground ( P hoto Credit: Gary Fong/Facebook )

Fong has posted photos of the bill online showing that the total cost for May to July is now a whopping $4,582.43. He says the energy pattern recorded by FortisBC shows a consistent change and the bill is always very high.

“They always respond that there is no error in the readings, so pay it or we'll cut off your power,” added Fong. “Here is the smoking gun. We just received this bill for May and June of this year, and as you know, a fire burned our house down. There is no house here, and look at the electric bill. We called Fortis, and they said that they checked the meter in March, and it was accurate. They basically said, ‘too bad, so sad’.”

P hoto Credit: Gary Fong/Facebook

The story has now gone viral as people have been questioning why FortisBC would continue to read a meter that no longer exists and how exactly they have come to the power conclusion when no power is being drawn.

KelownaNow has reached out to FortisBC for comment but did not receive a reply in time for publishing. FortisBC’s response will be updated once it is received.

UPDATE: FortisBC has commented on the situation. More information about the situation can be read here.