{"id":4028,"date":"2023-12-13T15:03:31","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T21:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/?p=4028"},"modified":"2023-12-13T15:03:34","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T21:03:34","slug":"ppl-reaches-17-million-settlement-with-puc-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/ppl-reaches-17-million-settlement-with-puc-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"PPL Reaches $17 Million Settlement With PUC Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PPL Billing Mistakes Investigated by PUC <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The
PPL reached a settlement with the PA PUC over last winter’s billing fiasco. The agreement may affect your PA electricity rates and save you some money.<\/em><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Last December, 800,000 PPL<\/strong> customers received high utility bills<\/a>. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC)<\/strong> quickly launched an investigation. So now the PUC<\/strong> is considering a settlement with PPL <\/strong>for $17 million. Here’s what happened, and how you can cut your bill with a better electricity provider<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PPL Mistake Ends in Costly Settlement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

How did something like this happen? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It started when a software error stopped meter data from going to PPL<\/a><\/strong>. That caused a backup in normal billing. As a result, PPL<\/strong> sent out estimated bills<\/a> that December. But over 800,000 of these bills were wildly inaccurate. Some customers got no bill at all between December 2022 and April 2023! At one point, PPL <\/strong>decided to cancel and re-bill over 82,000 estimated bills with missing or wrong supply charges. This only caused more confusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the cherry on top? A PUC<\/strong> investigation<\/a> found customer service lines were backed up for months. Customers faced extremely long wait times. Even worse, 41% of customer calls to PPL<\/strong> were abandoned because they could not reach a representative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PPL Settlement Agreement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a result, PPL <\/strong>has agreed to a joint settlement<\/a> with PUC<\/strong> investigators. In addition to a $1 million civil penalty, PPL <\/strong>must make several changes to their billing process. And PPL <\/strong>has voluntarily agreed to absorb the $16 million in costs related to fixing the billing issues. This includes waived late fees, bad debt, not collecting on underbilled accounts, employee overtime and more. As a result, under the proposed settlement, the utility can’t recover any of the $16 million from PPL customers. So hopefully, this means fewer billing issues and steady distribution rates for customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PUC will be reviewing the settlement <\/a> for approval. However, they have not yet announced a final approval date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PPL’s History of Bad Billing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Though the utility tried to make good for this mess, this isn’t the first time PPL has had billing problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2022, over\u00a012,000 customers received bad bills<\/a>\u00a0due to an attempted \u201cdata cleanup\u201d. In August 2021, the PUC fined PPL $5,000<\/a>\u00a0for failing to comply with PA state public utility code. They also ordered the utility company to take action to safeguard against future billing issues.\u00a0And we see how well that worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find a Better Electricity Provider Today<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After multiple billing mistakes, consumers who are tired of PPL rates can save more with their PA Energy Choice<\/a>. Shop plans, read reviews<\/a>, and the compare the best electricity providers in your area. And you can find them all in one place at https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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