PPL Electric, Illegal charges? Class action? - Estimated bills and service failure

Submitted by aggressive_napkin_ t3_114qxn5 in Pennsylvania

Could this lead to legal action?

I personally have been hit with the estimated bill, which was lower than I expected based on my use in nov-december. However, the end of december-jan bill, they seem to have made up for it despite me cutting my use extensively and switching to oil. To be honest, the two bills together probably average my use for the the total time.

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However, and i'm not sure how many of you noticed, this last bill has a percent based "service improvement charge." So they slapped a % fee onto a specifically inflated bill. How is this legal? Not only was it placed on a bill that would be nowhere near as high as it should have been, they did it immediately after FUCKING UP a huge number of people's billing!

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pm_your_masterpiece t1_j8xfpxz wrote

find a local class action lawyer and start one up. PPL needs to get reeeeeeeeeeeemed and disgorge stolen funds back to residences

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aggressive_napkin_ OP t1_j8xjisa wrote

Replying to sensistarfish (#1,845,772)

Thanks for putting this here. I did not mention but on my last hold before giving up contacting them via phone, I found that info and filed during the last call. Only other option they have for contact is post office, which will be sent out tomorrow as well.

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cbm984 t1_j8y89kc wrote

Are you talking about the "system improvement charge"? Because I see that on every bill (5%) It claims to be a "monthly charge to recover costs for improving, repairing and replacing equipment that delivers electricity to your home or business". Where are you seeing the new fee you mentioned?

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Dredly t1_j8zay8y wrote

I have to admit... this is kind of amusing.

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MetEd STILL estimates bills ALL the time, It wasn't at all unusual for me to get 3 - 4 estimated bills in a row in 2018 and then get a refund because they had overcharged so much...

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This is 100% legal, they are 100% ALLOWED to estimate your bill, the only reason this is even a thing is it happened in a really cold month. All these calls and claims that it is illegal are incorrect.

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aggressive_napkin_ OP t1_j91bs5e wrote

Replying to cbm984 (#1,847,869)

Hmm I only went back to the previous bill, which it is not on. I'll have to go further back.

Edit: just went 6 bills back and no service improvement charges on them.

I would have understood that for when they replaced the meter a few years ago.

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aggressive_napkin_ OP t1_j91c8vj wrote

Replying to Dredly (#1,851,140)

I'm fine with an estimate and then a real one to balance them out, not a percent fee on the inflated one, which I see from above I'll have to check further back, as it was not on a previous bill.

Edit, just went 6 bills back and no service improvement charge on them!

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Special-Ingenuity615 t1_j91kxll wrote

Replying to Dredly (#1,851,140)

Estimates are one thing.. this shitcannery from ppl is on a completely different level. Never once in the last 10 years of being in the same house have I had an electric bill higher than 350$ (I understand rates rising yada yada yada) and that was 3 years ago when there were 7 people living in the house . Now there's 2. Opened this months bill, and they're quoting me at 675$. Possibly understandable if I would run a prevy balance from month to month. But I don't. Never have. House is dark sunday-thursday nights after midnight. Noones home after 0630. So the only thing running is the 2 freezers and the fridge/freezer until 1900 (7pm) when I get home. House is heated by wood stove and propane as backup if we go somewhere for multiple days at a time. Get screwed, that price isnt getting paid

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Dredly t1_j924meq wrote

Replying to Special-Ingenuity615 (#1,857,337)

just curious... did you lock in your electric rate like 6 months ago when everyone was telling everybody to do so? cause the price went up like 35% for residential customers...

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the price went from like < 8 to 12+ this year alone

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Socketfusion t1_j93icyh wrote

It looks like the service improvement charge is part of a rate case approved by the Public Utilities Commission to add funds to replace aging infrastructure, increase reliability, and expand the grid. It is completely legit and very common in power.

I can't speak on whether or not they deliberately inflated a bill to collect more money. If that is the case it would obviously be a problem. While I do consult in power, PPL is not a client.

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