NYC tenant spent 10 years paying a high utility bill, then she realized she was paying her neighbor’s electricity: ‘It’s frustration beyond belief’
She wouldn't even use her air conditioning
A Queens woman who claimed she spent 10 years paying a consistently high energy bill found out that the energy company responsible for her building, Con Edison, allegedly charged her for her upstairs neighbour’s energy use. The tenant has since been issued a refund, but not for the full amount.
Nicole Niceforo began paying for her neighbor’s electricity in 2016, but only found out in January 2026 that the company had made the error after pushing for a test more than nine years later. “For 10 years, I was afraid to use my air conditioning,” Niceforo told Fox 5 NY in reference to her high-priced electricity bills.
Emails from 10 years ago showed that Niceforo had asked Con Edison to send out a technician and inspect her meter. However, the electricity company directed her to the building management instead. “I just felt like I had no recourse,” she said.
“I spent a lot of time and energy repeatedly calling them… It’s frustration beyond belief.” Niceforo said. After almost 10 years, the building management investigated the issue and found the problem was that she was paying for the wrong meter. Con Edison later admitted that the electricity on her bill belonged to the apartment directly above her. Niceforo said that she was “outraged, but also relieved that this was brought to light.”
Con Edison refunded Niceforo, but not for the whole amount
Correspondence from the energy company sent to Niceforo confirmed that the company had overcharged her and that she had been paying electricity on the wrong meter; it also confirmed that the company issued the tenant a refund of over $6,000. However, the amount she was paid in refunds only accounted for roughly six years of overpayments, leaving almost four years of charges and interest unaccounted for.
Nicieforo contacted the State Department of Public Service, but the agency refused to pursue additional reimbursement. Con Edison cited the six-year statute of limitations on claiming back overpayments.
In a statement to Fox 5 NY, the company said, “Con Edison values its customers and works with them if they believe their energy use is not correctly reflected on their bill.” It also reaffirmed that billing adjustments are limited to six years.
According to UtiliSave.com, the recovery window for utility billing errors is defined by state law. In some states, it’s three years, and in others, such as New York, it is six. According to law, companies must reimburse billing errors within that window of time; however, anything outside of that is unrecoverable in most cases, regardless of how big the error was.
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