State regulators received more than twice as many customer complaints about RG&E and NYSEG last year as in the previous two years combined, records show.
Numbers peaked in October, when the two companies — operating under parent company Avangrid — combined for nearly half of all complaints lodged against major gas and electric suppliers statewide.
“This is unusually high,” said Richard Berkley, consumer advocate with the Department of Public Service, which regulates the electric, gas, water and telecommunication industries in New York state.
Complaint numbers for January have not been published, but he put the total at close to 800, which would rival if not exceed the October peak even as company officials insist they are making progress.
The increase has prompted state regulators already probing billing irregularities involving the two companies to broaden the scope of their investigation.
And that is what brought Berkley to Rochester on Tuesday for a public hearing at City Hall.
Several dozen people filled City Council chambers. One after another, they gave accounts depicting a company in disarray — failing to send out bills for months to some, sending two different monthly bills to others, and hitting still others with exorbitant bills. All were met with inaction, long hold times and frustration.
“I cannot imagine a business that cannot collect what it's due in a a timely manner,” said longtime RG&E customer Patrick Fox, who complained to the state last fall after not getting bills for several months.
He has received intermittent bills since. But his account is listed as current, he said, with all bills paid.
Understanding your bill: Click here for RG&E's guide to billing terms
"I have done all I'm able to do responsibly, and the biggest obstacle is the repetitive poor performance by RG&E — and the lack of corrective action taken by (state regulators)," Fox said. "I and many others with far more severe issues ... have been raising our voices and hearing only echoes.”
Those others he referred to included Anne Granger, who said she called RG&E monthly last year about not receiving a bill.
Then in December, she got one.
“One bill for the amount of $2,320.42,” she said. “This bill was not a December bill, but the bill for the past seven months. … It took seven months for them to send me a bill
Since she had autopay set up, the amount was withdrawn from her bank account, taking the balance and the overdraft, and causing her other scheduled bills to bounce.
“I was put in a very difficult financial position,” she said.
Others reported being on a budget plan with the utility and seeing billing amounts double in a month’s time, forcing them to choose paying the electric bill over their mortgage.
Or, in the case of Bridgette White, trying in vain for months to rectify a billing error.
“This saga began in October of 2021,” she said. “And my bill still has not been straightened out. They have admitted that the bill is a mistake. But it keeps increasing. … And the bill is now up to $8,000. And no one even lives in the house full-time, so that can’t possibly be correct.”
The utilities have blamed the problems on workforce shortages and the pandemic. They say their meters still need to be read manually, which they claim is a key difference compared to other utilities in the state. But in-person reads were not possible during the pandemic, resulting in a higher number of estimated bills.
How to read your meter: Click here for a consumer guide
In a statement late Tuesday afternoon, RG&E claimed it was making “significant improvements,” having hired dozens of new customer service and billing representatives but still with 100 positions yet to fill. It also said it's reduced estimated billing by more than 60%.
“Improving the customer service experience is a top priority for our Company, “ said Trish Nilsen, president and CEO of RG&E and NYSEG. “It’s a process that takes time, it takes time to train new representatives in order for them to provide quality service, and we are holding and accelerating this training now.”
Berkley said improvement thus far has been in response times to initial complaints, not those that have languished and escalated.
The rate of complaints and escalated complaints against RG&E and NYSEG now outpaces all other major electric utilities, records show, save for one — Central Hudson Gas & Electric, which is facing civil penalties over what state investigators say was negligence in its botched rollout of a new billing system.
File a complaint: Click here to file a complaint with the state about your utility service.
“Because of the problems of Central Hudson,” Berkley said, “we wanted to make sure that we got as far ahead of it as possible.”
Brighton Town Supervisor Bill Moehle spoke during the two-hour hearing, urging state regulators to impose “severe financial sanctions” on RG&E and a high level of oversight. He and City Council member Michael Patterson spoke of the company pulling back customer service phone lines and walk-in centers.
Patterson noted that White is the deputy city clerk: “A member of our city staff, who has resources. And she can't get through. She can't get help,” he said.
“I'm tired of my constituents living in fear of an organization that is supposed to be here to serve us.”
Know your rights: Click here for an overview of key topics
As customer complaints against RG&E and NYSEG rose last year, the utilities’ response times plummeted, falling to the worst in the state among major gas and electric suppliers, records show.
“I'm not going to draw any conclusions at this point,” Berkley said in an interview before the hearing, explaining the agency is still gathering information. “We'll look through all that and then our investigators will start asking the company very direct questions to try and figure out what's going on.”
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