58-year-old Mary Horomanski was shocked when she opened her Electric Bill this month. The Pennsylvania woman told the Erie-Times news that "[her] eyes just about popped out of [her] head" when she discovered that her monthly bill had gone up to an astonishing $284,460,000,000.

There is a silver lining to her extremely high electric bill - the full amount isn't due until November of 2018, with only $28,156 due for December. That leaves plenty of time for her family to pull together $284 billion, right?

Was it the Christmas lights?

Horomanski was in total shock when she checked her bill online.

Her husband and one of her five sons were concerned as they watched her jaw drop and the color drain from her face.

Mrs. Horomanski told the local paper, "When you see something like that, your heart starts beating, you break out into a little sweat, like 'What on earth just happened?'" She thought back to the new Christmas lights they recently put up and wondered if maybe they had set them up incorrectly. Surely there's no way to get your electric bill up into the billions simply from a few holiday decorations.

Mary texted a picture of the bill to her son, who contacted Penelec Electric Company. They quickly assured the family that it was nothing more than an error. The actual amount due was $284.86.

Decimal placement makes all the difference. Horomanski took the story to Erie-Times News, where it has since gone viral.

All Mary could think about afterward was what would have happened if the bill had automatically been taken out of her account. Talk about stressful! Thankfully it was nothing more than a simple error, and her bill was only about $100 more than usual.

There's no better way to make someone feel thankful for their electric bill than to scare them with a $284 billion bill before telling them what the actual cost will be.

All this mom wants for Christmas is...

After this whole mishap, Mary told her son all she wants for Christmas is a heart monitor. I can't say I blame her, after getting the scare of a lifetime.

Mark Durbin, a spokesman for the parent company that owns Penelec Electric told the local paper that he's never seen a bill that high, and he's thankful for Horomanski's willingness to reach out about the error. Most people would reach out for something like that, but it's nice that she has a sense of humor about the whole thing.

What a story to tell! I know one thing's for sure - Mary Horomanski will surely be staying away from auto-pay for her electric company for a while.
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