HOUSTON – Local 2 Investigates how meter reading mistakes could damage your credit.
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We count on the electric company to get it right, but we discovered, in at least some cases, when they don't, the customers are left holding a big bill.
KPRC Local 2 consumer investigator Amy Davis is uncovering the problem leaving some consumers with nasty dings to their credit reports and putting them in a financial bind.
"I was like, 'No way, no way,'" said Versie Cuthert, explaining her reaction to a $3,800 electric bill she received from TXU Energy. "Something is wrong. This is not right," Cuthbert said.
When a very concerned Cuthbert called TXU, she said multiple employees only pressed her to set up a payment plan until they could figure out what went wrong. Realizing she owed something, but far less than the $3,800 she was billed, Cuthbert did send monthly payments, but she refused to agree to a payment plan on the erroneous bill.
Across town, homeowner Enola Harrington got a $619 bill from Stream Energy. Harrington's monthly bills are normally less than $200. When she called Stream, she told Davis, "All I got was 'Well, that's the way it is. Pay it.'"
Both Cuthbert and Harrington asked CenterPoint Energy, the company that owns and reads the meters, for a re-read, hoping to find out what they actually owed. Unfortunately, in both cases, CenterPoint continued to provide inaccurate meter readings to the customers' electric companies for several consecutive months.
"Clearly, that error should not have happened," CenterPoint spokeswoman Alicia Dixon told Davis. "And it took us too long to discover that error, quite honestly."
Dixon said Cuthbert's meter wasn't only read wrong once. It sent the wrong meter reading to her electric company, TXU, six months in a row. It sent the wrong meter readings for Harrison's meter to Stream four months back-to-back. Retail electric providers like TXU and Stream can only bill customers based on the meter information CenterPoint provides.
After six months of no explanation, and then threatening disconnection notices from TXU when Cuthbert wouldn't make payments on the erroneous $3,800 bill, she switched to Reliant.
"I got tired of the threats," said Cuthbert. "I wasn't coming to no resolution, and I was just tired."
Harrington switched from Stream Energy after trying unsuccessfully to get her bill corrected for four months.
"I was tired of dealing with them," Harrington told Davis. "I had to take an action. I had to do something to move forward."
But after they switched, both Stream and TXU took only days to report their former customers to collections. Cuthbert's credit score dropped from 705 to 682 right in the middle of her search for a new home.
"My chances of getting a home are very slim," she told Davis.
"It sounds like this customer was very persistent, and I sincerely regret that it took so long for us to get the correct meter reading data to her provider," Dixon apologized on behalf of CenterPoint.
Unfortunately, CenterPoint could not adjust Cuthbert's electric bill, only her electric provider can. Despite CenterPoint's admission that it read Cuthbert's meter incorrectly, TXU said by the time Cuthbert switched providers, she had, in fact, used the amount of electricity she was originally billed for. TXU held her to the $3800 bill.
We asked the state's Public Utility Commission why no one was holding either CenterPoint or the electric companies accountable.
"If a complaint is filed with the PUC, we can work on it fast," PUC spokesman Terry Hadley told Davis.
But Hadley said no one called the commission about either Cuthbert or Harrington's case.
After we called, Stream took off all of the late fees it charged Harrington and extended a $50 credit.
"Stream wants to offer me a $50 credit?" Harrington snapped. "That's a slap in the face."
And even though Cuthbert says she never received an explanation of the charges, or any corrections, TXU Energy sent us this statement:
"We understand Ms. Cuthbert's frustration. Unfortunately, even after getting the accurate readings and updated bills, she ignored multiple opportunities to establish a payment plan. Ms. Cuthbert did not pay what she owed until she wanted to clean up her credit report."
So what can you do to make sure this doesn't happen to you? As soon as you get a bill you think is wrong, call your electric company and the PUC before the bill is due. You may want to file a complaint with the PUC. Once you've filed that complaint, you do not have to pay the bill until after the PUC investigates your case. The commission has 21 days to help resolve any complaint that is sent to it.
