Meter Reading: Abilene Woman Gets $1.3 Million Electric Bill, Troopers Eye Eagle Ford, and More

Photo by STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images

Tony Waldrope of the Garner spill response cleaning company walks among tubes used to contain an oil spill in flood waters at the idle Valero oil refinery 25 September 2005 in Port Arthur, Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita.

Here are some of the stories we’re reading this morning:

Texas woman zapped with million-dollar electric bill – “Kristin Harriger knows that her electricity bills rise in the hot Texas summer months, but she didn’t think things would get really expensive until August. When she opened her bill from Dallas-based Potentia Energy, however, she was, for want of a better word, shocked. Total amount due: $1,381,783.92.” – ScrippsNews

Troopers step up enforcement in Eagle Ford Shale counties – “Texas Department of Public Safety troopers from across the state are flocking to the Eagle Ford Shale region, where officers are stepping up enforcement in an effort to curb unsafe driving caused by the oil boom.” - San Antonio Express-News

Feds predict fewer oil disruptions than 2011 hurricane season – ”Hurricanes threatening the U.S. Gulf of Mexico will disrupt production by about 4.5 million barrels of crude oil and 9.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas this season, according to median government estimates released this month.” — Fuel Fix

Editorial: The Gas Is Always Greener When It Leaks Less – “The great promise of natural gas, we’re often told, is that it will be better for the climate than other fossil fuels. In fact, this can come true only if very little of the fuel is allowed to escape, unburned, into the air. The trouble is, we don’t know how much natural gas leaks — as it is extracted, processed, transported and used — and some evidence suggests the amount may be more than we have assumed.” – Bloomberg