Press Release

PUC Report Indicates Payment Arrangement Requests Increase, Overall Consumer Complaints Decrease While Most Consumers Satisfied with PUC Dealings

Published on 12/11/2008

Filed under: Electric Gas Water and Wastewater Telecommunications

HARRISBURG – Requests for payment arrangements (PARs) increased, overall consumer complaints about utilities decreased and a majority of customers contacting the PUC for assistance rated it as a positive experience, according to the 2007 Utility Consumer Activities Report and Evaluation (UCARE) released by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today.

"With more consumers seeking payment arrangements, we want to remind consumers that the PUC has resources to help them deal with their utility problems,” said Commission Chairman James H. Cawley.  “Consumers should call their utility first. If they are unable to reach an agreement with the utility, we urge them to call the PUC at 1-800-692-7380 for assistance. We have employees who are trained to navigate the programs designed to help consumers restore and maintain service and, as this report shows, calling the PUC is a positive experience.”

The report is an annual evaluation of the customer service performance of the state’s major jurisdictional electric, natural gas, water and telephone companies.  A copy of the report is available on the PUC’s Web site.

Electric, natural gas, water and sewer customers filed 48,480 PARs in 2007 – an increase of about 4 percent.  Residential customers of the telephone utilities filed 1,690 PARs, a 20 percent decrease.

The report also shows that more than 82 percent of consumers reported that they would contact the PUC again if they had another problem with a utility that they could not resolve with the company.  Further, 83 percent rated the service they received from the PUC as “good” or “excellent”.  Most electric and natural gas consumer complaints were about billing disputes (16 percent and 23 percent respectively).  Service delivery issues were the main reason (28 percent) for residential consumer complaints about the telephone industry.

Additional highlights from the 2007 report include:

• 71,061 utility customer contacts to the PUC required review – a slight increase from 2006.  Of these contacts, 20,596 were consumer complaints and 50,465 were PARs.  In addition, 79,341 consumer contacts in 2007 were classified as inquiries.
• Inquiries decreased by 13 percent with 24 percent of inquiries related to termination or suspension of utility service and 15 percent involving billing disputes. Data shows that 7,347 inquiries recorded in 2007 were consumer contacts requesting new PARs that PUC representatives were not able to accommodate for various reasons.
• During 2007, the PUC received 11,164 consumer complaints from residential customers of the electric, natural gas, water and sewer.  Residential customers of telephone utilities lodged 7,224 consumer complaints in 2007.
• While consumer complaints about electric utilities increased by 25 percent, the volume of consumer complaints about natural gas utilities decreased by 19 percent and the volume of consumer complaints about the telecommunications industry decreased by 9 percent from 2006 to 2007.

To help consumers make accurate comparisons between companies of various sizes, the PUC calculates the number of justified complaints per 1,000 residential customers.  A complaint is considered “justified” if the Commission finds that the company did not comply with PUC regulations and polices when handling the dispute.  A significant increase in a justified rate would prompt a review of a utility’s complaint handling procedures.  Consumer complaint rates and justified consumer complaint rates are located in Appendix D of the report.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of consumers and utilities to ensure safe and reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protect the public interest; educate consumers to make independent and informed utility choices; further economic development; and foster new technologies and competitive markets in an environmentally sound manner.

For recent news releases, audio of select Commission proceedings or more information about the PUC, visit our Web site at www.puc.state.pa.us.

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Contact:

• Denise McCracken
  Senior Communications Specialist
  717-787-5722
  demccracken@pa.gov