Anyone else dealing with FirstEnergy's estimating madness? I've got a commercial client in Cleveland that got estimated bills for 8 consecutive months. When they finally read the meter, the true-up was $14,000 over estimates. The client was furious and rightfully so. FirstEnergy claimed "access issues" but the meter is right next to the loading dock with clear access 24/7. Now I'm dealing with the mess of getting late fees waived and fighting the interest charges on the catch-up amount.
FirstEnergy estimated my client for 8 months straight
Frank, that's brutal but not surprising with FirstEnergy. I had a similar case in Pittsburgh with Duquesne Light - 6 months of estimates followed by a $8,900 true-up. The key is documenting every time you or the customer tried to provide access. Get photos, emails, anything showing the meter was accessible. In PA, if they can't prove access issues, they have to waive penalty charges on catch-up amounts over $500.
Walt's right about documentation. Duke Energy pulled this on one of my Charlotte clients - estimated for 5 months claiming "dog on property" when the customer doesn't even have a dog. I filed a formal complaint with the NCUC and got all late fees reversed. The trick is proving the utility's access claim is bogus. Take photos of the meter location and get neighbor statements if needed.
Georgia Power does this too but they're usually better about actual access issues. Had a case where they estimated 3 months then hit my client with a $3,200 true-up. Turns out the meter reader marked it as "hostile dog" but there was construction fencing blocking the meter. Once I proved the fencing was the real issue, Georgia Power waived the penalties and set up a payment plan for the catch-up amount.
The worst part about these estimation runs is when they lowball the estimates. MLGW here in Memphis estimated my restaurant client at 60% of normal usage for 4 months. The true-up was $6,800 and nearly put them out of business. These utilities need to err on the high side with estimates, not low side. At least then customers can budget properly.
Amir, that's the real problem - underestimating creates cash flow nightmares. NV Energy here in Vegas typically estimates high which is actually better for customers. Yeah you might overpay during estimates but you get credits on the true-up. Had a casino client get $2,100 back when they finally read the meter after 3 months of high estimates.
CPS Energy down here in San Antonio has gotten much better about estimation frequency. They used to go 6-8 months but now rarely go past 3 consecutive estimates. Still, I had a manufacturing client get hit with a $11,500 true-up last year. The key is getting AMI meters installed - eliminates the whole estimation problem. Worth pushing for if you have high-usage commercial accounts.
Good point about AMI, Angela. I've been pushing FirstEnergy to install smart meters on my larger commercial accounts. They claim budget constraints but it would solve 90% of these estimation issues. In the meantime, I'm requiring customers to take monthly photos of their meters. Gives us backup data to challenge bogus estimates.
Frank, that meter photo strategy is brilliant. I'm stealing that idea for my Connecticut clients. Eversource estimates way too often claiming "weather conditions" but if I have customer photos showing clear access and readable meter faces, it strengthens any complaint. How often do you have customers take photos?
Vince, I have them take photos around the same date each month, ideally when bills arrive. That way we can compare the customer's actual reading to what the utility estimated. Caught Illuminating Company (Cleveland Electric) with a 40% underestimate last month using this method. Makes the complaint process much smoother when you have solid data.
Update on my Duquesne Light case - got full penalty waivers and they agreed to monthly actual reads for the next 12 months. Sometimes persistence pays off. The photo documentation definitely helped prove our case. Frank's strategy is going to save us all a lot of headaches going forward.