Burned by an outrageous bill? Let state regulators know about it.
If your heart skipped when you saw your latest bill from PPL and you’re still seething about it, here’s a suggestion.
Don’t accept the apology from PPL Electric Utilities and its assurance that the glitch has been fixed. Instead, make sure state regulators know what happened and how it affected you.
The state Public Utility Commission opened an investigation of the PPL billing mess last week. It wants to hear from people who got outrageously high bills, and from people who couldn’t reach someone at PPL when they tried to complain about it.
The more information the state has, the more thorough of an investigation it can do. Considering this isn’t PPL’s first billing boo-boo, it’s important for regulators to dig deep to make sure things really have been rectified.
The PUC should issue its findings quickly and with full transparency.
Nearly 800,000 customers, more than half of PPL’s 1.4 million billpayers, were affected recently by what PPL described as a technical issue with meter reads. The meters feed data into the billing system, and something went haywire during that process. Lacking data that showed how much juice some customers had used, PPL sent them bills based on estimated use.
Some customers reported those bills were hundreds of dollars higher than usual.
One told The Morning Call’s Anthony Salamone that her bill, which usually is about $150, jumped to $515.
PPL’s initial response about the situation was insulting. It said it had the right under state regulations to send estimated bills. Pay your estimated bill, we will reconcile your payment against your actual electricity use and you’ll get a credit for any overpayment, the company said.
The proper thing to do would have been to tell customers to disregard their estimated bill and wait for an updated, accurate bill. As the backlash grew, PPL did that. But it took several days.
In a letter to customers Tuesday, PPL Electric Utilities President Steph Raymond said those who were affected received corrected bills representing the actual amount of power used, or an adjustment on their next bill.
“If you received an estimated bill or have had difficulty reaching our call center, I apologize. Simply put, you deserve better, and we are committed to regaining your trust,” Raymond wrote.
She said there would be no penalties for customers. Late fees will be waived in January and February. Through the end of March, power will not be shut off to residential and small-business customers who didn’t pay their bill.
You have to wonder whether those accommodations were offered because PPL feared the PUC would launch a probe.
The agency announced the probe Tuesday, the same day as Raymond’s letter.
The PUC said its Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement had “initiated a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding unusually high bills” and “the accuracy and integrity of PPL’s billing practices.”
This is not the first billing blunder for PPL. The Morning Call’s Salamone reported that last spring, about 12,000 customers were sent the wrong bills. PPL blamed that on a mix-up when it was cleaning up its mailing address data.
In August 2021, PPL agreed to pay a fine of $5,000 to settle a PUC investigation into PPL’s failure to send bills for multiple months to five residential customers. They later received bills with large amounts due.
The bills that many customers should have received from PPL likely would have been higher than usual, but not as high as they were. That’s because electricity prices have gone up.
Savvy customers may be able to reduce their bills by purchasing their power through an alternate supplier. You can shop for a lower price at papowerswitch.com.
I’m not a PPL customer. I am on Met-Ed’s grid. When I learned last year that Met-Ed’s price would be jumping, I found a company that offered a lower rate.
Be careful, though, when you participate in the state’s electric choice program.
Make sure you understand the terms of what you are signing up for. Get a fixed rate. Know when your contract expires, because some suppliers may switch you to a variable rate after that. Variable rates can burn you.
PPL customers who want to file a complaint with the PUC about their estimated bill or poor customer service can do so at puc. pa.gov or 800-692-7380.