Need some advice on a billing disaster. Huntsville Utilities somehow generated overlapping bills for January - one cycle ran Dec 15 to Jan 15, another ran Jan 10 to Feb 10. Customer got charged for Jan 10-15 twice, including double demand charges of $2,100 each cycle. Total overcharge is $4,200 and the utility is claiming their system doesn't allow overlaps so it must be correct. This is insane - anyone dealt with billing period overlaps before?
Overlapping billing periods charged twice - $4,200 nightmare
Patricia, this sounds like a meter reading error that triggered duplicate billing cycles. PG&E had a similar issue in 2016 where estimated reads caused overlapping periods. The key is to get the actual meter readings for those dates and prove the overlap exists. Their billing system might not "allow" overlaps but human error can definitely create them.
We had this exact issue with Xcel Energy in Sioux Falls last year. Turned out their new billing system upgrade created duplicate accounts for the same meter. Customer was being billed on two different account numbers for overlapping periods. Check if there are multiple account numbers associated with the same service address or meter number.
Diane, that's exactly what happened! Found two active account numbers for the same meter. Huntsville Utilities created a second account during a service upgrade and never closed the original. Both accounts were generating bills with overlapping cycles. Now they're claiming it will take 4-6 weeks to straighten out the billing system.
Patricia, demand immediate suspension of collections activity while they sort this out. OG&E tried to keep billing a customer during a similar mess and we had to threaten legal action. Also get everything in writing about the duplicate accounts - utilities have convenient memory loss about their own billing errors.
Susan, great advice. Got written confirmation that collections are suspended and they're working on consolidating the accounts. The customer's credit score was starting to take a hit from the unpaid duplicate bills. This whole mess could have been avoided with basic quality control on their billing system.
Document every conversation and email about this case. Duke Energy had a class action settlement for duplicate billing issues that affected thousands of customers. If Huntsville Utilities has systematic problems with account management, this could be much bigger than one customer. Keep detailed records of the timeline and their responses.
Cecilia, definitely keeping detailed records. The utility finally admitted the duplicate account was created in error and they're processing a $4,200 credit. What's frustrating is how long it took them to acknowledge their own system error. Makes me wonder how many other customers have similar issues they don't even know about.
Patricia, you should ask for interest on that $4,200 credit. Most utility commissions require interest payments for billing errors over 30 days. Also consider filing a complaint with Alabama PSC about their quality control procedures - this kind of duplicate account creation shouldn't happen with proper safeguards.
Pete, working on the interest angle now. Alabama PSC requires utilities to pay interest on erroneous charges held for more than 45 days. Since this dragged on for over 2 months, we should get about $180 in interest. The utility is pushing back but the regulations are clear on this requirement.
Final update - got the full $4,200 credit plus $180 interest. Filed the PSC complaint anyway because this was clearly a systematic problem with their account management procedures. Sometimes you have to make noise to prevent future issues. Great job sticking with it Patricia!