'I choked on my cornflakes!': Broadcaster Jon Sopel tells of his shock after discovering his monthly EDF bill had risen from £152 to a 'ridiculous' £19,274 - as energy firm blames 'erroneous meter readings' and 'system error'

Broadcaster Jon Sopel 'choked on my cornflakes' when he discovered his monthly EDF bill had skyrocketed from £152 to a 'ridiculous' £19,274. 

The ex-BBC journalist was among the energy firm's customers left furious today when their bills surged by more than 12,000 per cent.

Artist Grayson Perry was another left outraged after EDF tried to take nearly £40,000 out of his bank account.

Mr Sopel, who presents The News Agents podcast, confirmed to MailOnline he has a smart meter. 

'I choked on my cornflakes when we got the bill saying our monthly standing order was going up from £152 to £19,274 a month and i just wonder, like Grayson Perry, who else has had ridiculous bills like that and who has been frightened out their life because of it, Mr Sopel said 'through his agent Mary Greenham.

EDF said unusual changes to direct debit amounts can occur when an 'erroneous meter reading [is] recorded on the system'.

Has YOUR EDF bill skyrocketed? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk

Mr Sopel, who presents The News Agents podcast, wrote a public letter on X, formerly Twitter, to the French energy supplier asking if he could speak to a human rather than a bot about his monthly standing order rising from £152 to £19,274.

These tweets prompted other members of the public to share similar stories of EDF, saying they had been overcharged by thousands of pounds and received 'threatening' letters through the door for refusing the pay up.

Journalist Mr Sopel told EDF - which raked in a record £1.12bn profit last year - that his dramatically high bill 'seems a bit steep', before wishing them a merry Christmas.

Mr Sopel wrote: 'Dear @edfenergy, Just had a notification that our monthly standing order is going up from £152 a month to £19,274. Seems a bit steep. Is there a human rather than a bot we can talk to?

'Many thanks and merry Christmas, Jon.'

Artist, writer and broadcaster Grayson Perry CBE shared a similar story this morning, as he found his electricity bill from EDF had jumped from £300 a month to massive £39,000.

He said that the firm had tried to take the amount - which could constitute an annual bill of nearly half a million pounds - via direct debit today, and hit out against their customer service line for being 'no help'.

Mr Perry said on social media this morning: 'Hi @edfenergy, I've been trying to speak to someone to explain how my electricity bill went from £300 a month to £39,000. 

'Your call centre has been no help but you tried to direct debit this amount today from my account.'

Replying to him, EDF said: 'Hi Grayson, I'm so sorry for any concern that this may have caused. Please send me a direct message with your account details and we'll get this picked up straight away.'

EDF later released a series of messages on its X account as the energy firm said other 'customers don't need to worry' as it is not 'related to a wider issue with our billing system'.

'Unusual changes to direct debit amounts can sometimes occur when there is an erroneous meter reading recorded on the system, but we have robust interventions in place to ensure that any large increases in customers' direct debits are verified through a human check,' the French firm wrote. 

'In almost all such cases, system errors are rectified and prevented without customers being impacted.'

A former EDF customer responded to Mr Grayson's post sharing her own issues she had with the firm after they suddenly raised her bills to nearly £900 even though there were just two people in the property.

Lindsay wrote: 'EDF put our energy bill up to just under £900 per month. Only two of us in the house.

'When I asked for help and for them to explain why it was so high the girl on the online chat was just rude. Switched to Octopus and so far they seem much much better.'

She said that her bills were now just £120 per month with Octopus.

'I feel sick to the stomach at the amount of money my mum lost through being with EDF,' she added.

An EDF customer replied to Jon Sopel's post saying the firm is trying to charge £3,000 for two months of usage.

Connor Natella said he cannot get through to customer service and is receiving 'increasingly threatening' letters for payment.

He wrote: 'They're trying to get me on £3k for 2 months usage, can never get through and just receiving increasingly threatening letters through the door!'

EDF replied to Mr Natella, asking him to direct message in order to look into it further.

A spokesperson for EDF said that whilst they could not discuss the specifics of the cases, they confirmed they are 'not related in any way'.

They added: 'Customers do not need to worry - these are not related to a wider issue with our billing system and we've not made any changes to how we process direct debit changes for customers. Unusual changes to direct debit amounts can sometimes occur when there is an erroneous meter reading recorded on the system.

'We have robust interventions in place to ensure that any large increases in customers' direct debits are verified through a human check and in almost all such cases, system errors are rectified and prevented, without customers being impacted.'

Has YOUR EDF bill skyrocketed? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk