PPL Usage and Billing Problems in Pennsylvania still not resolved?

Submitted by theviolinist7 t3_125txt3 in Pennsylvania

Are any of y'all still having billing problems with PPL (Pennsylvania Power & Light)? More specifically, has PPL claimed that you've used significantly more electricity than usual, and is refusinf to fix it? I've heard many stories about this and I inow there were many news articles about PPL misbilling 800,000 Pennsylvanians, but in my case, where my bill and usage seemingly shot up by hundreds of dollars and kWh for no reason at the exact time this was happening, PPL is insisting that everything is correct and refusing to fix the problem. An informal complaint with the PUC has not helped. Who else has been having this problem?

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spoon7777 t1_je61bn4 wrote

My house has been vacant since January 1st. Somehow my usage for January of 23 was slightly higher than in January of 22, when I did live there with my son. The last 2 months have been significantly lower, as they should be, but I still haven't been reimbursed for January, and probably never will be.

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theviolinist7 OP t1_je66wrb wrote

How much higher was it in January than February?

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spoon7777 t1_je68kfe wrote

January I was billed for 617 kwh, February 142. January of 22 when we were actually living there it was 583. All I have on is 1 fluorescent light in the kitchen.

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theviolinist7 OP t1_je6v2m9 wrote

Wow, that's almost 500 kWh between January and February. This is disgusting.

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opskito t1_je67wun wrote

I’ve seen folks still complaining of problems on other social media sites. You’re not alone, apparently, FWIW.

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TheRealSavvyLion t1_je7g600 wrote

Our bill nearly doubled since December stating the same as everyone else. That our usage has increased even though our habits haven't changed in the slightest, if anything I've been home less with working more.

I believe the only way that things will get resolved is if people come together and make something happen.

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theviolinist7 OP t1_jea0dbj wrote

I'm genuinely considering looking for a lawyer for a potential lawsuit. Did you contact PPL and the PUC about this?

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TheRealSavvyLion t1_jebrrqg wrote

Yes, I was told at first that it was an estimate only and would be fixed. Then when it didn't change the following month I called and they said it was probably due to the coldest days of the winter. I did contact PUC but nothing came of it.

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theviolinist7 OP t1_jebty4q wrote

Oh, yeah I contacted the PUC as well, but the claim was dismissed. I'm planning on appealing and filing a formal complaint. Are you also doing that?

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flaaaacid t1_je6h890 wrote

My bills never looked that out of sorts, but now if I log in they've retracted the last 3 months of bills, giving me a $300 credit on my account. They're apparently reinstating corrected bills, but it's been days and they still haven't done that. It's a total mess.

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Pink_Slyvie t1_je6qrnz wrote

When did you see the credit. My January usage was absurd.

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flaaaacid t1_je6rxtp wrote

I just noticed it this week. I suppose it could have been there last week but I didn't check. They haven't reissued the bills yet so god knows what that will look like...

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Pink_Slyvie t1_je6sr10 wrote

No change for me, I wonder if I need to throw a fit.

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theviolinist7 OP t1_je9zqdu wrote

I've been throwing a fit. PPL is insisting that I somehow used almost double my normal electricity during a month where I was out of town for a couple weeks. They're trying to pin the blame on me, while also saying that my usage isn't doubled, despite the numbers they're charging me for showing otherwise. There's absolutely no explanation for this.

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ThatAudiGuy92 t1_je6qkcx wrote

Yeah they are saying my usage has doubled, even though my heat is gas and wood stove. Makes no sense and I got nowhere when I called them. Same deal, trying to tell me it's all accurate and I owe them hundreds of dollars

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theviolinist7 OP t1_je9zzfq wrote

Yeah I'm in a similar boat. Have you contacted the PUC about this?

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ThatAudiGuy92 t1_jea0988 wrote

I have not. Truthfully I don't even know what that is, can you share info on that please?

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theviolinist7 OP t1_jea0xy6 wrote

It's the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission. It's the state agency that is supposed to hold PPL accountable (hopefully they actually will). You first need to contact PPL to see if they can fix it. If PPL doesn't help, then you can reach out to them and file a complaint. https://www.puc.pa.gov/

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ThatAudiGuy92 t1_jea1m5f wrote

Thank you! I will do this. At the very least, it will be another complaint filed

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theviolinist7 OP t1_jea1rph wrote

Yeah, there's a chance the PUC might not do anything to fix it unless you file a formal legal proceeding, but it's worth a shot to file an informal complaint first.

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ronreadingpa t1_je9yyi0 wrote

PUC is generally useless. Unless there are significant financial penalties levied against PPL, they have little incentive to resolve this quickly, if at all. Prospect that some may never get truly corrected bills. Has the grace period for not paying past due bills been extended beyond 3/31?

Other than the PUC, I don't know what recourse one really has other than posting on social media and persistently contacting PPL via phone, letter, etc. Litigation is expensive and likely requires binding arbitration (should be optional, but that's another topic entirely).

When comparing months, look at many billing days there were. Generally, it's around 30 plus or minus a few days. I suspect for some, one month is say 10 days and another 50 or some other random variation. For messed up bills, PPL needs to do more than just say trust us and pay the so-called corrected amount. They need to explain the situation better.

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theviolinist7 OP t1_jea0j3m wrote

Yeah I feel like the only recourse is if PPL gets sued into oblivion. I hope enough of us can band together to make that happen tbh

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7nationarmy t1_je6leba wrote

This is now the fourth month where they're trying to say my usage is higher than its ever been in my home, double what it was last March. I'm fighting this now, this is getting ridiculous.

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theviolinist7 OP t1_je9zso0 wrote

Have you contacted the PUC about this?

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7nationarmy t1_jea08kk wrote

I have now after my conversations with PPL.

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theviolinist7 OP t1_jea1lgw wrote

Oy. Have they responded? I filed an informal complaint, and the investigator never once reached out. Apparently, they contacted PPL, who gave them the same spiel as usual ("it's not us! They somehow just used double the usual amount of electricity during this exact same time!"). The PUC believed them for some reason and dismissed the case. They said they wouldn't reach out to me for my side of the story unless I had appealed it to a formal complaint, which I'm now planning to do. This apparently starts a legal proceeding with a judge and a hearing, though. It's ridiculous.

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7nationarmy t1_jea2aic wrote

Not yet, but it was this morning. Glad to know they're basically worthless. PPL told me I can pay them to replace my meter and I'll get that back if it's inaccurate.

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theviolinist7 OP t1_jea2t8r wrote

Idk if they're 100% worthless, but they're definitely not nearly as good as I initially thought. I'm probably going to do the legal proceedings anyways. I'm fully expecting a class-action lawsuit at this point. I just don't know how that gets started.

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basement-thug t1_je8cue1 wrote

Back in like January we got the crazy and clearly erroneous triple estimated bill. I said fuck that. I got a meter and can read it. Did so each month, paid them what I owed them based on actual usage. Haven't had an issue. No calls, no letters, we just ignored that stupid crazy bill and paid them what we used and now in March we are squared up. Just because they send you a bill for $xxx doesn't mean you have to pay it. Use common sense. They basically took advantage of the law that allows them to use estimated billing and sent out bills based on their default rate instead of the rate you are currently paying. It was a sham to collect a bunch of money they weren't owed but could legally bill, meanwhile they get to collect interest on all our money. Then when they get investigated, which they are, they will happily pay out the difference to those who paid what the bill says, pocket the interest and move on like nothing happened.

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-Day-Dream-Believer- t1_je912od wrote

We used around 900 KWh in December and February, but they sent an “estimated bill” for January of over 1800 KWh, we have been so disgusted with PPL

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Mysterious487 t1_je9yyx6 wrote

A former colleague became a snowbird in retirement. While away from home for over a month, she received an $800 PPL bill.

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