A lot of people open their utility bill and feel irritated, but WMAR-2 News reporter Mallory Sofastaii describes a Baltimore-area case where the number wasn’t annoying—it was shocking.
The homeowner, Donn Deitemyer, told Sofastaii he went from a normal winter routine to a full-on panic when a bill arrived showing $7,000 in charges, the kind of figure that makes you stare at the page like it has to be a printing error.
In Deitemyer’s case, Sofastaii explains, the trouble wasn’t just rising rates or a cold snap; it was a mistake inside the home that quietly ran up costs for months, and it started with something many homeowners install without a second thought: a new thermostat.
A Bill That Stayed Calm… Until It Didn’t
Sofastaii reports that for most of the winter, Deitemyer’s bill looked steady because he was on budget billing, paying around $300 a month, which can feel like a financial seatbelt when the weather turns brutal.
Then spring arrived, and with it came the moment budget billing can deliver like a punch: when the utility recalculates your actual usage and “true-ups” what you owe.
That’s when Deitemyer told Sofastaii the number landed – $7,000 – and the calm, predictable monthly payments suddenly looked less like stability and more like a delay in bad news.
He described the timeline plainly: the problem stretched from November through March, roughly five months, which also happened to be the coldest period, when heating systems are already working hard.
The frightening part is how ordinary the start of it all sounded, because Sofastaii says Deitemyer traced the spike back to the fall, when he had a thermostat installed and had no idea that his energy use had essentially exploded right after.
The Miswire That Made A Heat Pump Fight Itself
According to Deitemyer’s explanation in Sofastaii’s report, his system is a heat pump, and the key failure involved a component called a reversing valve – basically the part that tells the system whether it should be heating or cooling.
Deitemyer told Sofastaii that it had been wired incorrectly, causing his heat and air conditioning to both try to run, essentially battling back and forth instead of doing one job properly.
That detail matters because most people assume HVAC problems announce themselves with obvious symptoms – rooms that won’t warm up, strange noises, or a unit that won’t turn on – but this one was sneaky.
Sofastaii says Deitemyer’s energy use quadrupled without him realizing it, which is a brutal lesson in how “the house feels fine” can still hide a system that is burning money behind the scenes.
He told her both systems ran around the clock for about four months, and even though he didn’t catch it until April, the damage was already baked into the billing cycle.
It’s the kind of mistake that makes you think about how much trust homeowners are forced to place in installers, because most people can’t open a thermostat panel and instantly know if a reversing valve wire is correct.
Budget Billing, False Comfort, And The Long Tail Of A Single Mistake
Once Deitemyer realized something was wrong, Sofastaii reports he called a different company to fix the wiring, and the results were immediate: his usage dropped right away.
But the balance didn’t drop with it, because utilities don’t erase what was already consumed, even if the consumption came from a mistake the customer didn’t understand at the time.
Deitemyer told Sofastaii that even after all this time he still had about $2,000 left to pay, and he added a detail that makes the whole story feel even heavier: the big mistake happened two years ago, and he’s still dealing with the financial aftermath.
Sofastaii also reports that Deitemyer tried to recoup the money from the HVAC company that installed the thermostat incorrectly, but the company later went out of business, which is one of those realities that feels unfair even when nobody needs to say the word.
He also asked BGE for relief, Sofastaii says, and was denied, which leaves him in the position a lot of people fear most: trapped between a bill that is technically “accurate” and a situation that still feels like it never should have happened.
Deitemyer reflected that he should have tracked his energy use more closely, which he does now, and he also admitted budget billing gave him a false sense of security, because it smoothed out warning signs that might have been more obvious if the bills had been spiking month to month.
That’s a tough tradeoff, because budget billing exists to protect households from seasonal shocks, but as Sofastaii shows here, it can also delay your awareness when something goes truly off the rails.
Why Heat Pumps Can Surprise People In Cold Weather
Sofastaii’s piece doesn’t paint heat pumps as villains, but it does show how misunderstood they can be, especially in places where winter can still bite.
Deitemyer told her he’s still happy with his heat pump – as long as it’s wired correctly – and he pointed out something that explains why heat pumps keep spreading into new regions.
He told Sofastaii they’ve been popular farther south where it’s not as cold, but they’ve also become popular in places like Maryland because of federal rebates that made the switch feel financially worthwhile.
That’s an important context clue, because as more households adopt heat pumps, more people will encounter the learning curve that comes with them, and not everyone realizes that in very cold weather a heat pump can behave differently than a traditional gas furnace.
Sofastaii then brings in another voice to explain why so many customers are calling in angry and confused about winter electric bills.
The Auxiliary Heat Trap
She interviewed Michael Holcomb, the COO of Complete Climate Services, who told her this is the busiest time of year for his company, and that he often hears from customers upset about high bills.
Holcomb explained that many of those customers have heat pumps that run on electricity, and winter storms can trigger a costly chain reaction, especially when ice builds up on the outdoor unit.
As Holcomb told Sofastaii, when ice buildup happens, it can cause the system’s auxiliary heat to come on, and auxiliary heat is less efficient and much more expensive.
His point wasn’t that people are doing something “wrong” by having a heat pump, but that certain conditions – ice, extreme cold, and big thermostat changes – can push the system into a mode that feels like the bill is suddenly out of control.
Holcomb warned Sofastaii that drastic thermostat swings, or an improper install, can trigger that expensive backup heat sooner, which ties directly back to Deitemyer’s experience: a system mistake can turn your home into a high-speed electric meter.
The Practical Habits That Can Save Real Money
Holcomb offered advice that sounds almost too simple, but Sofastaii’s report makes it sound like the kind of boring routine that keeps you from financial heartbreak.
He said regular maintenance matters, and filter changes matter, but his clearest recommendation was about thermostat behavior: set it and leave it, instead of cranking it up and down.
He told Sofastaii that in the winter, when it’s really cold, one rule of thumb is to move it to something like 66 degrees, then put on a jacket or use an extra blanket instead of trying to force the system to sprint.
That advice can feel annoying in the moment, but the logic is clear: big jumps can trigger the auxiliary heat and turn a manageable bill into a “what just happened?” situation.
Sofastaii also mentions that if you see a major spike in usage after installing a thermostat, you should call a professional to have it checked, because catching a wiring issue early could literally save thousands.
It’s not glamorous advice, but it matches the lesson of Deitemyer’s story: this is one of those areas where early detection is the difference between a repair bill and a debt that hangs around for years.
How To Catch The Spike Before It Becomes A Crisis
Sofastaii closes the loop with a practical way to reduce surprises, especially for customers who assume the monthly bill is the only feedback they get.
She says homeowners can track daily usage through BGE’s website, going into the account area and clicking into usage tools where you can see daily cost, a projected bill, and what’s using the most energy in the home.
That kind of tracking won’t fix a miswired thermostat by itself, but it can show an early warning sign, like a sudden jump that doesn’t match the weather or your normal routine.
And in a winter with single-digit temperatures, Sofastaii notes many homeowners could see sticker shock even without any mistakes, which makes it even more important to know whether your bill is high because of the cold – or because something mechanical is quietly going wrong.
The Scariest Home Problems Are The Quiet Ones
One reason this story sticks is that it isn’t about someone ignoring a broken heater; it’s about a situation where everything probably felt normal inside the house while the system chewed through electricity like a machine with no off switch.
That’s the nightmare version of a home expense, because it doesn’t give you the usual “pain” that forces action, and by the time you realize it, you’re already on the hook for months of damage.
There’s also something unsettling about how small the original trigger was – a thermostat install is the kind of upgrade people do casually – yet it created a bill big enough to disrupt someone’s finances for years.
Budget Billing Helps… Until It Hides A Disaster
Budget billing is genuinely helpful for a lot of households, but Deitemyer’s experience shows the downside in the clearest way possible: smoothing out your payments can also smooth out your awareness.
If your usage quadruples and the bill stays flat, your instincts don’t fire the way they would if you suddenly saw a $900 month in January, because the “budget” number makes it feel like everything is under control.
Sofastaii’s reporting makes a strong case that the best compromise is using budget billing if you need it, but still checking usage data like you’d check a bank account, because surprises are cheaper when they’re small.
By the end of Sofastaii’s report, Deitemyer’s frustration comes through in a way a lot of people will recognize, because he described the experience as helpless – being stuck with the bill, not knowing what it will be, and struggling to budget.
And the simplest warning is the one this story practically writes in bold: if you install a new thermostat or have HVAC work done and your usage spikes fast, don’t wait for the next “true-up” to tell you the truth.
Catching the mistake early might not just save a few dollars – it could save you from a four-digit shock that doesn’t go away when winter ends.
A former park ranger and wildlife conservationist, Lisa’s passion for survival started with her deep connection to nature. Raised on a small farm in northern Wisconsin, she learned how to grow her own food, raise livestock, and live off the land. Lisa is our dedicated Second Amendment news writer and also focuses on homesteading, natural remedies, and survival strategies. Lisa aims to help others live more sustainably and prepare for the unexpected.
