Here are some updates on natural gas issues:
• Gas marketer mix-up: Earlier this month, I wrote about a computer glitch by natural gas marketer Direct Energy that resulted in a Medina County man, Chris Jurey, and a Summit County woman, Luan Haas, inexplicably having their accounts linked with overcharges (to read the story online, go to www.ohio.com/betty).
Direct Energy discovered that as many as 207 accounts may have been improperly enrolled into the Summit County aggregation program. The company has since said it improved its system of taking lists of eligible accounts for aggregations from Dominion East Ohio and determining geographically which customers live in those communities.
On Thursday, the company said 372 accounts were switched. Spokeswoman Bethany Ruhe said the company is contacting affected customers by phone, calculating refunds from last March until now and sending out an apology letter and a check. Customers will be offered a fixed rate of $3.99 per thousand cubic feet (mcf) with no cancellation fee. Customers will receive the refund whether they sign up for the new rate or not, Ruhe said.
While I am disappointed that the company has had so many problems, it is trying to make things right. The fixed rate is much better than other fixed rates offered to the general public, though it still doesn’t beat the Standard Choice Offer (SCO), which is $3.83/mcf for the month. But it’s pretty close and a fixed rate. If I were among those customers, it’s something to consider. Certainly the SCO could always dip lower, as it has ranged from $2.64 to $4.07 in the last year.
Said Ruhe: “It is unfortunate that in the process of improving our systems for customer service we experienced this glitch. We believe we have identified all of the impacted customers and have a comprehensive plan in place for outreach and resolution. Our goal is total customer satisfaction ...”
PUCO Investigation and Audit Division Chief Lisa Colosimo said her staff is satisfied, and while acknowledging there have been several large billing mistakes by the marketer in the last year, it has not reached the level of enforcement action.
“We will continue to watch this. We think they are doing the best thing possible and we will watch our complaints,” she said.
As for the original two clients highlighted in my column, Jurey at the time received a $250 check from Direct Energy for the $75.21 that I calculated he overpaid.
At the time, the company was not sure if it would reimburse Haas for anything since her rental home was in the aggregation area, though I advocated for at least $84.70 — what I calculated she might have overpaid by being switched.
This week, Haas said she received a check for $150.
“Cool beans,” she wrote in an email. “It will pay for a light fixture or two in my new kitchen.”
Said Ruhe: “We were happy to be able to correct the issue with the Haas account, and satisfy the account. We strive to set the business standard when it comes to customer service, and this situation gave us an opportunity to do just that.”
• Opt-out: Customers who are on the SCO or who don’t have their own contract with a natural gas provider will be included on lists Dominion is required to share with aggregation groups. If you don’t want to be included on those lists, I suggest you opt out through Dominion. Go online to www.dom.com, call Dominion at 800-362-7557 or write Dominion at P.O. Box 5759, Cleveland, OH 44101-0759.
• SCO formula remains low: There’s good news for SCO customers for the next year. (Go online to www.ohio.com/betty to read the story from Thursday.)
A yearly auction to determine the monthly “adder” to the New York Mercantile Exchange price netted the same figure as this past year — 60 cents/mcf.
Current SCO customers don’t need to do a thing. Beginning with your April bill, you may see a different provider listed under “SCO,” but you will get the correct price.
When the PUCO releases the names of the winning providers, I’ll report that. What matters is that you see “SCO” on your bill.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/blinfisher and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty