Daily Freeman: Weeks after scathing Central Hudson report, agency probing two other utilities for billing practices
DAILY FREEMAN, PAUL KIRBY
Just two weeks after the release of a scathing investigative report on Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. billing practices, an oversight agency said Wednesday it had begun another probe into billing procedures used by two other utilities.
The New York State Department of Public Service announced it has expanded its investigation into New York State Electric & Gas Corp. (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. for potential mismanagement of their utilities’ billing systems and protocols.
“Ensuring customer bills are accurate is the singular responsibility of the utility, and this expanded investigation of RG&E and NYSEG will determine what went wrong and how will it be resolved,” said Department Chief Executive Officer Rory M. Christian. “Our bottom line is simple: we hold utilities accountable for any billing errors and we will require the companies to hold customers harmless.”
The problems with the two utilities’ billing systems became apparent when the department began to see a significant spike in the number of complaints from customers, the announcement said.
“As a result, Department staff commenced a review and an investigation related to a September 2022 change to the companies’ customer information and billing system,” the announcement said.
The newest investigation comes on the heels of a Central Hudson report released on Dec. 15 by the Public Service Commission’s Office of Investigations and Enforcement.
The Public Service Commission voted Thursday, Dec. 15, to order Central Hudson to answer allegations contained in the report compiled by its Office of Investigations and Enforcement within 30 days.
The commission released the findings of a months-long investigation and instituted a “proceeding to determine whether the commission should pursue a civil penalty action against Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation for apparent failures related to the company’s new customer information and billing system,” a commission statement said.
“In addition, the commission will investigate the propriety of the costs incurred by Central Hudson related to implementation of that system,” the commission said.
U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan, who has been a strong critic of Central Hudson, said Wednesday that the newest investigation reflects more pain for customers. Ryan represents the 19th Congressional District and will represent the 18th district at the beginning of the year.
“It is utterly disgraceful that hard-working New Yorkers are paying the price for utility companies’ incompetence,” Ryan said. “I will not rest until any utility found to be ripping off customers or in violation of contract is held fully accountable.”
State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D-Saugerties, felt similarly.
“People have lost faith in their utility companies, but one thing is for certain—erroneous billing practices cannot be the new normal,” Hinchey said in a statement. “All utility companies must be held accountable to the New Yorkers they are bound to serve, and we will keep holding their feet to the fire to ensure that families can budget their monthly expenses, plan accordingly, and feel secure knowing what to expect from their utility bill.”
Outgoing Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, who has been a strong critic of Central Hudson, said in an email that given the company’s foreign ownership the common billing practice problem was not unusual.
“I was not a party to the actions or complaints brought before the PSC regarding billing for these utilities,” Cahill said. “A very small fraction of the people in the 103rd Assembly District are NYSEG customers and none are RG&E customers.”
“I note that, like Fortis (Canadian) Central Hudson, those two utilities are foreign-owned, in this instance by Spanish power giant Iberdrola (though it now goes by a corporate name of Avantgrid). Distant, non-resident ownership of utilities lends itself to a serious disconnect with ratepayers. It is not surprising that billing issues emerge when remote ownership takes hold,” Cahill said.
Laurie Wheelock, executive director and counsel of the Public Utility Law Project, said that the group is well aware of customer complaints about the newest billing problems. PULP, as the group is known, has been actively involved in the Central Hudson billing issues.
“Similar to Central Hudson, NYSEG/RG&E updated their customer information system and went live on or around September 1, 2022 (one year after Central Hudson did),” Wheelock said. “Then customers began to experience billing issues. PULP has received requests for help from NYSEG/RG&E customers …”
“What the Public Service Commission announced today is also an important administrative process, because it’s broader from the individual complaint process,” she added. “Not only is the Department investigating the CIS upgrade and the issues that followed, but they will be holding public hearings in NYSEG/RGE’s service territory. This is extremely important as it’s a way to collect evidence and increase the Department’s ability to learn more about what the public is experiencing.”
Wheelock said that during Central Hudson public hearings, the group became alarmed by what they were hearing.
“In the Central Hudson case, the elected officials ended up holding their own hearing in Kingston. PULP attended and it helped us as an organization better understand the types of harms people were experiencing,” Wheelock said. “For example, we knew about the auto-pay overdrafts, but learned that night that people were getting charged by their banks different fees (overdraft fees, or when corrective credits were issued some people were also charged fees then because the banks thought they were returned checks).”
The newest complaints received by the Public Service Department range from incorrect bills being sent to consumers or very late bills being sent, the department said.
In 2022, the number of consumer complaints against the two companies soared to more than 4,700, 60% more than the two previous years combined, the department said.