Did You Pay PEPCO For Power When You Had None?
Feb 2, 2011 17:51 - 6 Comments
TBD is reporting a new investigation into whether Pepco charged customers for electricity when their power was out.
In her article, Pepco charging customers during power outages, Elahe Izadi writes:
The Maryland Public Service Commission has initiated an investigation (yes, another one) into Pepco’s bill stabilization adjustment system, which is the same thing that smooths out your electric bills during extreme winter months. But the PSC says that the system may have also let Pepco charge for electricity that wasn’t actually delivered. A hearing date has been set for Feb. 22.
Read the article for a statement from Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner containing the phrase “perverse disincentive” which explains what he thinks PEPCO should do about it. They’ve also posted a copy of the PSC order for the investigation.
For years I’ve wondered if PEPCO was doing this and always suspected they were. Now we’ll find out.
When Netflix has a disruption in service in the past, they’ve offered discounts. WHy should PEPCO, Verizon, Comcast, etc…. In my socialist mind, these should be government entities anyway, not profit making ventures.
When the power was out last Thursday, the meter reader was the first Pepco employee we saw. Amazing that he could get through when the repair trucks could not.
Pepco has never credited my bill when they knew the electric was out last summer for 2 1/2 days (August 2010). Pepco is now stating that they are going to charge more for electric, they have already milked the public with their fees. Pepco should try something different like “providing a reliable service” and maybe an increased fee will not be so bad after all…..
Does the term, “Adding Insult to Injury” ring a bell and never more true?
Where is Pepco’s 20 yr plan? Why does the public have to continue to be without electricity, and water ( WSSC water main breaks),when these utility companies do not have a plan as to how they will deliver the electricity and water to the people who pay for it ?
Last summer when we had the storms and Pepco had all kinds contractors from out of state here helping I had the pleasure of talking with alot of the linemen and tree crews. The crews from out of town were shocked and frustrated with the amount of tree damage sustained. One of the older pepco foremen explained part of the problem. In the “good old days” pepco could cut just about any tree within reach of the power line. A while ago they were mandated to only cut based on a five year growth estimate. Pepco then hired and contracted arborists to survey and surgically trim trees accordingly. Recently they were pushed to a three year growth and there are people pushing them for one year basically meaning that every tree would have to be trimmed every year. If we plant trees under powerlines eventually the two will meet and cause problems, expensive problems! Options include: cut the trees down, or bury the lines.