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Philip Costa
Thomas C. ZambitoThe head of New York’s Public Service Commission is warning the state’s utilities to fix the billing troubles they created for tens of thousands of solar energy customers by the end of the year — or else.
In a letter to the state’s utilities, PSC chairman and CEO Rory Christian said billing issues with so-called Community Distributed Generation (CDG) has “reached a critical juncture,” as the state continues to field complaints from customers.
Utility customers who signed up for CDG thinking they were tapping into a green energy source while saving on electric bills have been left frustrated by overcharges and bills that arrive late, forcing many to drop out.
And solar development companies have struggled to collect payments for the energy they’ve produced, with the potential to disrupt contracts with customers as well as investors, Christian’s letter notes.
“Most importantly, these issues have led to unnecessary customer harm and skepticism in the state’s CDG programs,” Christian writes.
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New York threatens utilities with fines over billing fiascoThe state created CDG eight years ago, touting it as a popular way for low and moderate-income residents to help New York achieve its climate goals without having to install solar panels on their roofs. Instead, customers tap into energy generated nearby, typically in a field of solar panels, and get a discount on their bills.
Towns across the state promoted CDG to their residents, helping to turn it into a $250 million program. New York now ranks among the top community solar markets in the nation. But over the past year, several towns have withdrawn their support for CDG while the billing issues are being resolved.
Investigation:Report blasts Central Hudson for bungled rollout of $88M billing system
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Click "Universal" in the eNewspaperChristian sent letters to several of the state’s large investor-owned utilities — Con Edison, New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG), Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) and Central Hudson — on July 7.
Over the past year, NYSEG, RG&E and Central Hudson have been criticized by the PSC for billing miscues that have led to overcharges and late bills.
The PSC says if the CDG billing issues are not resolved by the end of the year, more investigations, with the potential for hefty fines, could be on the way.
“Should the utilities fail to meet the deadline, the Department (of Public Service) and Commission will review the utilities’ actions to resolve these issues and consider corrective actions, which could include the negative revenue adjustment mechanism referenced in the letter,” PSC spokesman James Denn said.
How have NY utilities responded?Several utilities say they’ve already gotten the message and are moving swiftly to resolve customer complaints.
NYSEG and RG&E, both owned by Avangrid, are now submitting more than 94% of its CDG bills on a regular two-month schedule, the company says. And complaints during the second quarter of the year were down 50% from the first quarter.
The company expects to automate all CDG billing by the fall.
“With the initial implementation of CDG, applications expanded rapidly across New York State, posing significant challenges for the companies’ billing systems and customer service operations,” the company said in a statement. It went on to note RG&E and NYSEG have made "tremendous progress" toward automation, and are moving forward to address complaints and issue more timely and accurate bills.
NYSEG has 873,000 electricity customers in central, eastern and western New York while RG&E’s 371,000 electricity customers are in and around Rochester.
Of the 16,000 Central Hudson customers subscribed to CDG, 9,500 receive automated bills, the company said in a June letter to the PSC.
Program changes will be needed so the remaining customers receive automated bills. In the interim, the company has come up with a solution to ensure bills are timely and accurate.
“The Company has dedicated additional internal resources to assist with this effort, and the vast majority of CDG bills are being provided in a timely manner during this transition with minimal customer impacts,” Paul Colbert, the company’s associate general counsel wrote in June.
The company has 300,000 electric customers and 84,000 gas customers in the mid-Hudson River Valley, mostly in the suburbs north of New York City.
Solar:NY has a plan to make solar energy affordable. But utilities can't work out how to bill customers
Kate Daniel, the northeast regional director for the Coalition for Community Solar Access, which represents solar developers and nonprofits, says Christian’s letter is “an important step” toward resolving the billing issues.
“We are glad to see that the Public Service Commission will not tolerate poor performance from the utilities, especially when it harms customers and creates distrust in the state's clean energy programs,” Daniel said. “There is more work required to make sure that the utilities improve their performance, however.”
She said it’s been a year since the PSC recognized the need for including CDG billing issues among the measures used to measure utility performance. “We eagerly await the DPS Staff Proposal on that matter and look forward to working with DPS and the utilities to implement appropriate systems to improve the CDG customer experience,” she said.