I've got a manufacturing client in Harrisburg on PPL Rate GS-3 and their interval data files are completely missing weekend intervals for the past two months. Weekdays look fine with all 96 intervals per day, but Saturdays and Sundays just show blank or zero values. This is affecting their load factor calculations and demand ratchet billing. PPL customer service keeps telling me it's a "system upgrade issue" but can't give me a timeline for when it'll be fixed. Anyone else in PPL territory seeing missing weekend data?
PPL interval data missing weekends - anyone else seeing this?
Sylvia - I'm in Cincinnati with Duke but I've worked on PPL accounts before. Missing weekend intervals usually means there's a problem with their AMI collection system or the head-end software isn't polling meters on weekends. This could be a big problem if customers have significant weekend loads that aren't being captured. Have you tried contacting the PA PUC? They take missing meter data pretty seriously.
I'm seeing the same thing with several PPL accounts here in eastern PA! Three different customers, all missing weekend intervals starting in mid-July. The weird thing is that their bills are still showing weekend energy usage, so PPL must have the data somewhere. They're probably using estimated values for billing but not including them in the downloadable interval files. This is definitely a systemic issue.
Vince - that's exactly what I suspected! The billed kWh totals are way higher than what the interval data shows when I sum it up. So they're definitely using estimated or reconstructed data for billing but not providing it in the customer portal downloads. I'm going to file a formal complaint with the PA PUC citing 52 Pa. Code § 56.14 which requires accurate meter reading records.
This reminds me of an issue we had with Idaho Power a few years back. Their billing system was configured to exclude weekend intervals from customer downloads to "reduce file sizes" but still used the full dataset for billing calculations. Took six months and a PUC order to get them to include all intervals in customer data exports. Definitely file that complaint Sylvia.
Warren that's unbelievable - excluding data to reduce file sizes? The arrogance of these utilities never ceases to amaze me. I submitted the PUC complaint yesterday and also sent copies to three other consultants I know who work PPL accounts. If this is as widespread as it seems, we might need to organize a joint filing to get faster action.
Count me in on a joint filing if needed. I've documented the missing data issue across six different PPL accounts ranging from small commercial to large industrial. The financial impact varies but my biggest client is looking at about $12,000 in potential demand charge errors due to incorrect load factor calculations from the incomplete interval data.
Update for anyone following this thread - PPL just issued a notice that they've "resolved technical issues with weekend interval data collection" and will be providing corrected historical data back to July 1st. No mention of billing adjustments yet, but at least they're acknowledging the problem. Sometimes a little PUC pressure works wonders!
Cecilia thanks for the update! I just checked my client's account and sure enough, the weekend intervals are back. Still waiting on the historical data correction but this is progress. Goes to show that utilities can fix "unfixable" technical problems pretty quickly when regulators start asking questions.