AES Ohio sent me 24 months of billing data in response to my LOA. I started the analysis and something looked off — the usage pattern didn't match what my client described. Turns out AES sent me data for a different account at the same service address. The building has two meters and they pulled the wrong one. I now have confidential billing data for a tenant in my client's building who didn't authorize anything. What do I do with the wrong data?
Utility sent me data for the wrong account — now what?
Delete it and document that you did. Don't analyze it, don't reference it, don't share it with your client. You received it due to a utility error and the account holder didn't authorize disclosure. Notify AES Ohio that they sent the wrong account, request the correct data, and confirm in writing that you've destroyed the erroneous records. Mistakes happen but how you handle them speaks to your professionalism. The utility will also want to know so they can flag the error internally.
That's what I figured. Deleted the file and called AES Ohio to let them know. They apologized and sent the correct account data within a few days. Actually added a step to my process now — when I receive data I immediately verify the account number matches my LOA before doing any analysis. Simple check that I should have been doing from the start.