Working on a commercial account in Dallas and found a 34-day billing period on the March statement from TXU Energy. Customer is on tariff schedule POLR-L and typically runs 30-31 day cycles. The overlap shows they charged for 3 days that were already billed in February. Anyone else seeing extended periods like this with TXU lately? This added about $1,800 to their monthly bill just from the extra days.
TXU Energy 34-day billing period - legitimate or error?
Marcus, I've seen this with several Texas REPs recently. The meter reading schedules got messed up during the February freeze and they're still catching up. You should challenge this - they can't bill overlapping periods. File a complaint with PUCT if TXU won't adjust it voluntarily. I had success getting similar charges reversed for three clients last month.
Ed's right about the freeze impact. We saw similar issues here in Missouri with Ameren after winter storms. The key is documenting the actual meter reading dates versus what they're billing. If there's overlap, it's an automatic refund situation. Don't let them claim it's a 'catch-up' billing - that's not how tariffs work.
Same thing happened to one of my clients with TVA here in Knoxville. 36-day period in March after a 27-day February. TVA tried to say it was normal seasonal adjustment but that's BS. They credited back $2,340 after I showed them their own tariff language about standard billing periods. File the complaint now before they dig in.
Thanks everyone. I've got the meter reading records from the customer's online account and there's definitely a 3-day overlap between February 28th and March 3rd. Filing with PUCT today. Will update when I hear back from TXU on the dispute. Ed - did you have to escalate beyond the first level customer service for your cases?
Marcus, yes - had to go to supervisor level for two of them. First level reps kept trying to explain away the overlap as 'system adjustments.' Once I got to supervisors and mentioned PUCT complaint, they moved fast to resolve. Document everything and reference Texas Admin Code 25.28 on billing periods. That usually gets their attention.
Following this thread with interest. Haven't seen this issue with Xcel Energy here in Colorado yet, but good to know what to watch for. Marcus, definitely interested to hear how the PUCT complaint goes. These winter weather impacts seem to be creating billing nightmares across multiple states.
Update for anyone following - just had similar issue resolved with OG&E here in Tulsa. 35-day period with 4-day overlap cost client $3,200 extra. Took two weeks and a formal complaint but got full credit plus interest. The key was showing the actual meter read dates didn't match their billing period dates. Keep fighting these!