Cheryl Morse, a member of OPC’s Consumer Services Division, says she was “just doing her job” when she began working with a Northwest Washington couple struggling to keep up with their electric bills. 

            What began as a general consumer inquiry became an increasingly complex complaint. Ms. Morse took the time to listen to the consumers’ story about trying to make sense of their electricity bill, which according to the consumer, bore no resemblance to how they used electricity in their one bedroom home.

            “As we talked, I knew something had to be wrong” said Ms. Morse. “The family had tried everything they could to keep their electricity consumption down and still the high bills kept coming.  Finally, through close coordination with the Public Service Commission and Pepco we were able to determine that the meter for which they were being billed was not the meter connected to their service line.” This kind of cross-metering instance can go on undetected indefinitely if both customers involved use similar amounts of electricity on a monthly basis. In this case the usage patterns proved to be very different.

            Ultimately, Pepco’s own investigation revealed several key facts. From November 2008, through July 2009, the customers were billed for more than 15,000 kWh of service.  For this same period, their actual payments should have totaled just $286.  Despite disagreeing with the data, the couple continued to pay their bills in full. This led to an overpayment of $2,045.23

            The Utility Consumer Bill of Rights (UCBOR) permits a utility to review its past billing to correct an error. The utility can go back as far as necessary to make the bill accurate. In this case, at the customers’ request, Pepco has refunded the overpayment in full.

            “This case is a prime example of why consumers must become familiar with how much electricity they use and why it is so important for consumers to check their billing statements on a regular basis. In this case the consumers found they had a resource in OPC to assist them in resolving their complaint” added Ms. Morse.   

“It is rewarding to be in a customer service position and to be able to provide the level of assistance that improves consumers’ lives. At the end of the day, you have to feel great about a job well done. Receiving flowers as a thank you is an added bonus” said Ms. Morse.