State PSC expands investigation of NYSEG and parent co. for billing errors

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ALBANY — The State Department of Public Service Wednesday announced it has expanded its investigation into New York State Electric & Gas Corp. and Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. potential mismanagement of their utilities’ billing systems and protocols. As part of the investigation, the department’s consumer advocate will hold a series of public forums in affected areas starting in January to hear consumer concerns first-hand.

NYSEG provides services to parts of Orange and Putnam counties in the region.

“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 CEO Rory 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. 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 complaints received by the department range from incorrect bills being sent to consumers or very late bills being sent. In 2022, the number of consumer complaints against the two companies soared to more than 4,700, 60 percent more than the two previous years combined.

Customers who are experiencing problems with utility bills should follow the normal consumer complaint process to ensure these complaints are received and resolved in a timely fashion, the PSC said. Customers should first contact their utility for resolution and if unable to get a satisfactory resolution from the utility provider, customers should contact the Department’s Office of Consumer Services to file a complaint.

This is the second investigation into billing errors by a utility. The state agency slammed Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation recently for its handling of a major billing problem after it launched a new billing system. Customers wound up receiving outrageously high bills as a result.

NYSEG, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, serves 907,336 electric customers and 270,204 natural gas customers across more than 40 percent of upstate New York. RG&E, also a subsidiary of AVANGRID, serves approximately 385,925 electric customers and 319,737 natural gas customers in a nine-county region centered in the City of Rochester, Monroe County.




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