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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Kelly Pottinger cannot begin to understand how her power bills have almost quadrupled to $1,109 from $254 from the month before.

"We haven't been doing anything different," she said at her home on Taltheilei Drive in the Kam Lake area, where her family is completing construction on her 4,400-square foot home.

Kelly Pottinger, left, sits on the futon with her daughters Katrina, 3, and Kaitlynn, 13. Pottinger's power bills have almost quadrupled from December to January. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

The government employee has two bills for her house - one for the downstairs, the other for the upstairs where she lives with her two daughters Kaitlynn, 13 and Katrina, 3. The downstairs bill in January was $403, only $20 less than the power bill for her father's driving school on the next lot over.

"He's got big rigs plugged in, a car and an office running all day through the week and his power bill was $20 more than my shop alone," she said.

"There is nothing downstairs - there aren't even working plugs yet. We had three to five work lights running because it was the only heat they had. I don't know how that could have caused that much difference.

"I'm on a budget and I can't afford to cover this change. My oil bill finally got back on track because the insulation wasn't completely in and then I get hit with this. It's just too much."

The January bill for the upstairs portion of the house is $703. The December bill was $186. The downstairs bill in December came to $66.

Pottinger said she isn't fully moved in to her home yet and is concerned because Northland Utilities told her the meter was read correctly and her bills next month will be similar to the $1,109 total she received this month.

"I'm not even using my oven," she said. "I haven't even cooked. I can't even afford to live here. My dishwasher isn't even set up. Like, wow."

Pottinger had power hooked up at her new home in September 2008 and said she put $300 a month on her utility account to cover the cost.

"Every bill I have gotten has had a small credit on it because the $300 is covering the bill," she said. "Now I get this bill and the $300 isn't even close to taking care of it."

Pottinger contacted Northland Utilities when she got her exorbitantly large bill. She said the person she spoke with was surprised at the amount and they sent someone over to re-read the meter.

"They read the meter and said it was correct, and I would be looking at the same bill next month," she said, adding no one had actually been to see the meter because the snow on her patio is untouched.

Jeff Barbutza, Northland Utilities manager, said he wasn't familiar with the case but would look into it further.

Pottinger isn't the first Yellowknife resident to experience a problem with a power bill. As reported in News/North, the Beckwith family has watched their power bill almost triple over the last three months after a new meter was installed.