Eye-popping $284bn electricity bill gives Pennsylvania woman the shock of her life

Festive indulgences turned into a shocking experience for a Pennsylvanian woman when she checked her electricity bill and found out that she owed more than $284bn (£212bn) to her electricity provider for the month of December.

"My eyes just about popped out of my head," Mary Horomanski, a 58-year-old resident of Erie city in Pennsylvania, told Go Erie.com. "We had put up Christmas lights and I wondered if we had put them up wrong."

The stunned homeowner was, however, given the leeway to pay the massive amount on her electric bill by November 2018. But the account statement from her electric provider Penelec made it clear that she has to turn in a minimum of $28,156 for the current month.

Shocked at the massive bill, Horomanski immediately reached out to her son to investigate the issue. Her son took the matter up with the electricity providers, who later confirmed that there indeed was an error in the monthly statement.

It was only after Horomanski's online statement was fixed that it reflected the due amount as $284.46.

A spokesman for Penelec's parent company First Energy addressed the incorrect bill situation, suggesting that a decimal point must have been accidentally moved.

"I can't recall ever seeing a bill for billions of dollars," said Mark Durbin, the representative for the company, as per reports. "We appreciate the customer's willingness to reach out to us about the mistake."

Despite getting the shock of her life, the Pennsylvania homeowner took the $284bn bill experience with a dash of humour. "I told him I want a heart monitor," Horomanski said jokingly, referring to the Christmas present she demanded from her son for this year.