We've been auditing some commercial accounts in Sacramento and finding consistent errors in SMUD's water billing calculations. Specifically seeing incorrect application of the Tier 3 rates on accounts over 100 CCF monthly usage. Found $12,400 in overcharges for one client over 18 months. The customer service reps keep telling me the system is working correctly, but the math clearly shows they're applying residential tiered rates to commercial accounts. Has anyone else run into this with SMUD or other California water utilities?
SMUD water billing errors - anyone else seeing this?
Jennifer, I haven't dealt with SMUD specifically but we had a similar issue with Phoenix Water Department last year. They were misapplying the commercial base rate multiplier on accounts with mixed use classifications. Took us three months and multiple escalations to get it resolved. Have you tried contacting their commercial billing department directly rather than going through regular customer service? Sometimes the front-line reps just don't understand the commercial rate structures.
This sounds familiar. Here in Dallas we've seen similar issues with the water department applying wrong tier thresholds. What I've found helpful is requesting a detailed billing history report that shows the actual calculation steps. Most utilities have these available but you have to specifically ask for them. Once you have that documentation, it's much easier to pinpoint exactly where the error is occurring and get supervisors to understand the problem.
We had a nightmare situation with Charlotte Water about 6 months ago where they were double-billing the infrastructure surcharge on multi-meter accounts. Took forever to get resolved because nobody wanted to admit the billing system had a bug. Jennifer, have you documented everything in writing? I'd suggest sending a formal dispute letter with your calculations attached. That usually gets escalated to someone who actually knows the rate schedules.
Thanks everyone for the advice. Sarah, that's exactly what I'm going to do - request the detailed calculation reports. Marcus, you're right about the formal dispute letter. I've been trying to handle this through phone calls but clearly need to put everything in writing. Karen, the double surcharge issue sounds awful. Did you end up getting refunds for your clients or just prospective corrections?
We got full refunds going back 24 months, but it took 8 months of fighting and eventually had to threaten to file with the state utilities commission. The key was having rock-solid documentation showing their tariff didn't support the double charges. Once legal got involved on their side, things moved pretty quickly. Stick with it Jennifer - $12,400 is worth the fight.
Just wanted to chime in that Citizens Energy here in Indy had a similar billing system glitch about two years ago with natural gas accounts. The problem was in how they calculated the winter heating credit for commercial customers. Sometimes these utility billing systems have bugs that go unnoticed for months because so few people really dig into the calculations. Keep pushing Jennifer.
This thread is great timing. I'm dealing with Mobile Water right now on a similar issue with their commercial drought surcharges. They're applying it to accounts that should be exempt under their own tariff. Going to use some of these strategies. Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone.