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PSC making the right move

By Staff | Jun 7, 2013

We are extremely glad to see that the Public Service Commission for stepping up to investigate the practices of Potomac Edison. The lack of consistent billing practices and the so-called “catch up” the company has done resulting in excessive bills for many customers should have been addressed long before now.

As residents of the Eastern Panhandle, we have no other option but to deal with Potomac Edison for our power needs. The company, as in any monopoly, can run roughshod over the customer base because there is no other game in town.

But regulating bodies such as the PSC are there for the benefit of the customer and must come to the aid of those being abused. We at the Chronicle have no doubt that errors will be found in the way Potomac Edison has done business here. Their cry of bad weather as a reason for estimated meter readings lost any credence more than a year after the last storm.

While we realize emergencies occur and personnel can be pulled to other areas, that excuse cannot be used for an endless amount of time. The “derecho” was a year ago and the company officials continue to claim that the effects of that storm are what cause the lack of personnel to read meters. If that’s the case, hire more personnel!

Instead, the customer service voices at the end of the phone line tell customers to go out and read the meter and call back to get an accurate billing. Really? Having had this discussion personally with at least three different representatives, explaining each time that it is not my job to do their job, I know that logical reasoning falls on deaf ears.

We commend and encourage the PSC to fully investigate exactly what the irregular practices of the power company are and how they have allegedly misrepresented and overcharged their customers. The allegations of such are so many that it is hard to imagine that the customer is not right in this case.