Just wrapped up an audit that uncovered a whopping $47,000 in overcharges over 18 months. Manufacturing client in Cincinnati was being billed under Duke Energy Ohio's Schedule DP rate when they should have been on Schedule TS after switching to a competitive supplier. The delivery charges alone were $0.02/kWh higher than they should have been. This is the third major billing error I've found with Duke Ohio this year. Anyone else seeing systemic issues with their shopping customer billing?
Massive overcharge discovered - Duke Energy Ohio delivery rates
Cecilia, that's a huge find! I've had similar issues with Duke Ohio but not quite that magnitude. The problem seems to be in their customer information system - it doesn't automatically update rate schedules when customers switch to choice suppliers. You basically have to audit every shopping customer to catch these errors.
This is exactly why I always recommend new shopping customers review their first few bills carefully. The utilities' billing systems were retrofitted for deregulation and they're full of bugs. $47,000 is a serious overcharge - did Duke agree to pay interest on the refund?
Frank, they initially resisted paying interest but I cited PUCO rules about billing error refunds. They eventually agreed to 6% annual interest dating back to when each overcharge occurred. The total refund with interest came to $51,200. The client was thrilled obviously.
Outstanding work Cecilia! Question - how did you first identify the rate schedule error? Was it something obvious in the bill format or did you have to dig into the tariff comparison? I'm working on a similar case with Alabama Power and looking for red flags to watch for.
Albert, the tip-off was the demand charge calculation. Under Schedule DP they use a ratchet provision that doesn't apply to TS customers. When I saw they were billing 80% of the previous 11-month peak instead of actual monthly demand, I knew something was wrong. Always check the demand billing methodology first on large commercial accounts.
Great tip about the demand ratchet! I've seen similar issues with Eversource here in Connecticut. The deregulated billing is so complex that even experienced auditors can miss these rate schedule errors. Did you use any specific software tools to identify the discrepancy?
Vince, I built a custom Excel model that calculates bills under all possible rate schedules and flags discrepancies. It took about 20 hours to build but it's paid for itself many times over. I can spot rate schedule errors within minutes now instead of spending hours on manual calculations.
Cecilia, would you be willing to share that Excel model or at least the framework? I'd be happy to adapt it for Entergy's tariff structure here in Louisiana. This could be a huge time-saver for all of us dealing with deregulated market audits.
Juan, I'll clean up the model and post it in the resources section. It needs some documentation but the core logic should work for any utility. The key is having all the tariff rates programmed in with effective date tracking.
This is exactly the kind of knowledge sharing that makes this forum valuable! Cecilia, that's an impressive find and great detective work on the rate schedule error. These billing system gaps in deregulated markets are costing customers millions. Keep up the excellent work everyone.