Just wrapped up a nightmare case with PECO in Philadelphia. Commercial customer on Rate Schedule GS got estimated bills for 8 consecutive months because their outdoor meter was supposedly 'inaccessible' due to construction. When we finally got them to do an actual read, the customer had been overcharged by $47,200! PECO was estimating based on prior year usage but didn't account for a major equipment shutdown. Filed a formal complaint and got full refund plus interest, but what a mess. Anyone else seeing utilities get lazy with estimated bills lately?
PECO estimated my client for 8 months straight - $47K error!
Holy cow Phil, that's insane! Georgia Power has been pretty good about meter access in Atlanta, but I've seen similar issues with their rural customers. Eight months though? That should trigger some kind of internal review process. Did PECO give you any explanation for why they let it go that long?
We see this with MLGW here in Memphis too. Their policy is supposed to be actual reads at least every other month, but I've caught them going 4-5 months on estimates. The key is documenting everything - photos of the accessible meter, dated correspondence, the whole nine yards.
CPS Energy in San Antonio has a three-month rule - if they can't get an actual read within three billing cycles, they're supposed to send someone out to investigate. Sounds like PECO needs better internal controls. Phil, did you check their tariff language on estimated billing procedures?
Yes Angela, their tariff says estimates should be 'adjusted promptly upon obtaining actual reads.' The problem was their meter reader marked it inaccessible without even attempting to access it. We proved this by showing photos of the clearly accessible meter. The construction excuse was completely bogus.
This is why I always tell my Atlanta clients to take monthly photos of their meters. Georgia Power tried to pull the 'inaccessible' card on a client last year, but we had timestamped photos proving otherwise. Sometimes you have to treat utilities like hostile witnesses.
LG&E in Louisville has been pretty reasonable about this stuff. When they estimate, they usually true-up within 60 days max. But I've learned to red-flag any client that shows consistent month-over-month usage patterns - that's usually a dead giveaway for estimated bills.
Duquesne Light up here in Pittsburgh actually has pretty good estimated billing controls. They use weather normalization algorithms that are fairly accurate. But $47K over eight months? That's just negligent. Good work getting that resolved Phil.
NES in Nashville requires actual reads every 35 days unless there's a documented safety issue. The fact that PECO let construction be an excuse for 8 months is ridiculous. Did they at least waive the late fees during that period?
Ed, they initially tried to stick the customer with late fees on the estimated amounts! We had to fight that separately. The whole thing was a cluster. But the client is happy now - $47K refund plus 1.5% monthly interest adds up quick.
That interest penalty is probably the only thing that makes utilities take these cases seriously. Without financial consequences, they have no incentive to fix their meter reading procedures. Great outcome Phil!