Some PSE&G customers took to social media this week, enraged by a sharp increase in their most recent electric bill.

Carolyn Brink of Fanwood says that her electric bill was only $100 in June. Her July bill jumped to $540. Brink says that she has lived in her home for 16 years and has never seen an electric bill this high.

Brink is not alone. Several other PSE&G customers have posted on social media to complain about their bills. But the PSE&G’s executive director of customer operations says that there is a reason for the increase.

“We are starting to read inside meters again,” says Fred Daum. “I think the issue is if you had an inside meter, because of COVID and some of the restrictions, we weren’t able to get inside. You’ve received multiple estimates.”

Daum says that in mid-March the company temporarily stopped reading meters that were inside homes because of the pandemic. He says that the estimated bills may have been lower than they should have been during that time. He says that every bill is different and that the increase does not affect all PSE&G customers.

“We only estimated 20% of our meters because of this, but it happened to be the same 20% for a couple months because they were the inside meters,” says Daum.

Daum says that the latest bill also compensates for the money that might not have been billed over the past few months.

But with so many other financial hardships during the pandemic, receiving such a drastic increase in fees may be daunting.

“I understand if we say, ‘Hey, your bill’s accurate.’ That doesn’t make it any less stressful for the customer,” Daum says. “We’re empathetic to what they’re going through. These are very stressful times and if you have an issue, please reach out to us. We want to help you.”

Daum says that PSE&G has programs to financially assist customs who are going through difficult times and are having trouble paying their bills.