I'm working on a commercial audit here in San Jose and running into some weird discrepancies with PG&E's delivery charges versus what the third-party supplier is showing. The customer switched to Direct Energy in January but the delivery portion on their March bill is showing different rate codes than what's in the E-19 tariff. Anyone else seeing this in California? The variance is about $2,800 for this one facility and I'm trying to figure out if it's a billing error or if I'm missing something in the deregulation structure.
PG&E delivery charges not matching supply contract - help?
Paul, I've seen similar issues with Georgia Power when customers were on Choice programs. The delivery charges can lag behind the supply switch by a billing cycle or two. Check if PG&E is still applying the bundled rate schedule instead of the unbundled delivery-only rates. There's usually a specific tariff rider that should kick in once the switch is processed. Down here we see it with schedule TOU-GSD-2 customers all the time.
Eleanor's right about the lag time. Wisconsin has similar delays with WE Energies when customers switch suppliers. Paul, did you verify the customer's service agreement date with Direct Energy matches when PG&E shows the switch effective? Sometimes there's a disconnect between when the supplier thinks service started versus when the utility processed it. I'd also double-check the rate class - make sure PG&E didn't accidentally keep them on a bundled schedule.
Thanks both! I checked the service agreement and there's definitely a mismatch. Direct Energy shows service starting 1/15/14 but PG&E's system shows the switch didn't process until 2/10/14. The January and February bills were still on the bundled E-19 rate instead of switching to the delivery-only portion. This is exactly the kind of thing that creates these phantom charges. I'll file a billing dispute for the $2,800 variance. Has anyone had luck getting PG&E to backdate these corrections?
Paul, Entergy Arkansas is pretty good about backdating when there's clear documentation of the supplier switch date. Make sure you have the Direct Energy enrollment confirmation and any correspondence about the service start date. PG&E should honor the original switch date if you can prove the delay was on their end. I've gotten similar adjustments here, though it sometimes takes escalating to a supervisor in their commercial billing department.
Helen makes a good point about documentation. I always tell my clients to keep copies of everything when they switch suppliers. Georgia Power has gotten better about processing switches faster, but there can still be 30-60 day delays. The key is having that paper trail showing when the customer intended to switch versus when the utility actually processed it. Paul, if PG&E gives you pushback, mention that the delay caused financial harm due to higher bundled rates.
One more thing Paul - check if there were any estimated reads during that transition period. Sometimes the utility will use estimates that don't properly account for the rate change, especially if the meter reading date doesn't align with the supplier switch date. WE Energies has burned me on this before. Make sure all the kWh allocations between supply and delivery are accurate for each billing period.
Update: Got the adjustment! PG&E credited back $2,650 of the $2,800 variance after I provided the Direct Energy enrollment docs. They agreed the switch should have been effective 1/15/14 instead of 2/10/14. Karen was right about the estimated reads too - there was one estimated bill in February that used the wrong rate structure. Thanks everyone for the help, this is why this forum is invaluable for navigating deregulated market issues.