Emergency Help for me and my daughter

EDIT: 6/6/2024

Its FINALLY almost over. I can't say thank you enough to everyone for coming together and helping us. PGW decided to settle and lower it from almost 10k to 5482.

I am in the process of moving to a new place also. I do not plan on renewing my lease and am definitely ready to move somewhere else.

Right now we have $1564.86 If anyone was waiting until the final verdict or it slipped there minds and still want to donate, its closing in 7days. Any help is appreciated. Thank you to everyone again!

EDIT: 3/14/2024

Thank you everyone who donated. I appreciate you all so much for chipping in with monetary help, advice, and legal help. I HAVE A LAWYER NOW! Unfortunately it looks like I'm the only one who is going to be responsible. We are fighting for a lower fair price. I'm waiting to see how much and will fix the total to reflect the new price which should be waaay lower than 9.1k ( to be continued )

Hey everyone!

I hope you're doing well. My name is Shalaya and I am a graphic designer & illustrator. I usually do not ask for help, but right now, my daughter and I are in a bit of a tough spot. Our gas heat got shut off unexpectedly on February 12th, 2024 without any warning or heads up. I called the gas company, and honestly, the person I spoke to didn't seem too bothered about our situation. I am a first time renter and the operator asked for my information and ended up dropping a bombshell on me, saying I owed close to a staggering $10,000! They informed me they took the highest amount of gas my home received between 2015-2016, multiplied that by 4 and added on fees. I have no idea who or how many people lived in the home at that time. It would have been 2 or it could have been 5.

Turns out, they put the bill in my name, without informing me they would. On top of that, they told me I couldn't get any help from programs like Liheap or set up a payment plan. And to make matters worse, they said the house was getting gas illegally for two years before I even moved in four years ago!

Before moving in, I tried to do everything by the book, calling up all the utilities and putting them in my name as my lease required. But somehow, the gas was already on when I got there, and I thought they turned it on without me being present.

Now, without heat, my daughter and I have had to rely on my parents for showers, which isn't exactly ideal. I've been trying everything I can think of to sort this mess out—I've reached out to the utility commission, looked into my rights as a tenant, and even contacted my state representative. Right now, I'm in the process of filing a formal complaint, but that could take anywhere from 20 days to six months to resolve. And honestly, its disheartening to wait that long.

So if any of you can lend a hand or offer any advice, it would mean the world to us. Please share my video. Thanks for listening.