Business
Jan. 29—The blasé attitude that PPL Electric Utilities Inc. and state regulators have adopted over egregious overbilling of some of the utility's customers is an outrage.
Electric customers were shocked this month when opening bills demanding payments double or triple of the preceding bill cycle's charges. PPL attributed the overbilling to a technical issue that prevented the company from loading data from meter readings into the system that generates bills.
In such cases, state regulations allow a utility to use estimates based on prior usage, but customers say the estimated charges in the latest bills are way out of line with their customary monthly bills. The current bills include a previously state-approved 22% rate increase, but that in no way can account for the charges these ratepayers are reporting.
Even worse, PPL expects payment of the inflated bills, with a promise to adjust the following month's bills to make up for the overpayments. And the state officials who are supposed to be protecting consumers see nothing wrong with that approach, coldly referring customers to government assistance programs if they cannot scratch the money together.
So PPL's customers, many of whom are already scraping to pay ever-increasing utility bills on top of higher prices for just about every daily necessity, are on the hook. And the company, which reported $870 million in earnings in the first nine months of 2022, gets to enjoy a temporary windfall from its own errors in the bargain.
And the Public Utility Commission, which states its mission is " to balance the needs of consumers and utilities," is doing nothing to help the affected customers or hold PPL to account. Balance indeed.
If the PUC and PPL had any regard for hardworking ratepayers, they would cancel payments for this billing cycle for the affected customers until accurate bills can be processed. That would strike the proper "balance."