Press Release

PUC Approves Settlement with Duquesne Light Regarding Alleged Termination of Customer Service Without Required Notification

Published on 12/7/2023

Filed under: Electric

Settlement Includes $50,000 Civil Penalty, Corrective and Quality Control Measures After Hundreds of Duquesne Light Customers Did Not Receive Required Termination Notices and Assessed Improper Fees in November 2022

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today approved a Joint Petition for Approval of Settlement (settlement) between Duquesne Light Company (Duquesne Light) and the PUC’s independent Bureau of Investigation & Enforcement (I&E), related to the company’s alleged termination of service to customers without providing the required 10-day written termination notice. 

The Commission voted 5-0 to approve the settlement, which was published for public comment earlier this fall in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.  No comments were received on the settlement, which follows I&E’s informal investigation into 300 Duquesne Light customers having electric service terminated in November 2022 without first receiving required written termination notices and then being assessed improper fees by the company in order to reconnect and restore service.

In December 2022, Duquesne Light self-reported to the Commission that due to an error in the software used by a third-party vendor, the following occurred:

• 300 customers had service terminated without being provided with 10-day written termination notices prior to termination, as required by the Commission’s regulations.
• 206 of these 300 customers were charged and paid reconnection fees in order to have their service restored.
• 64 of these 300 customers were assessed and paid a security deposit as a condition to having their service restored.

The 10-day termination notice print failure did not affect Duquesne Light’s processes for completing pre-termination personal contact as required by 52 Pa. Code § 56.93.  Duquesne Light contacted or attempted to contact each affected customer at least 3 days prior to terminating the customer’s service.

The settlement directs Duquesne Light to pay a $50,000 civil penalty, which will not be tax deductible or able to be passed through as an additional charge to Duquesne Light’s customers in Pennsylvania.  The settlement also notes that Duquesne Light took the following corrective measures regarding the customers impacted by the 10-day written termination issue:

• By December 5, 2022, completed service restoration to 298 of the 300 customers who had their service terminated. The premises of the remaining two customers were vacant.
• By December 2, 2022, refunded the reconnection fees ($4,129 in total) that it collected from the 206 affected customers.
• By January 10, 2023, refunded the security deposits ($23,029 in total) that it collected from the 64 affected customers.

Additionally, the settlement specifies that Duquesne Light has implemented or will implement various quality control measures in response to this incident.

About the PUC

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of consumers and utilities; ensures safe and reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protects the public interest; educates consumers to make independent and informed utility choices; furthers economic development; and fosters new technologies and competitive markets in an environmentally sound manner.

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Docket No.:  M-2023-3037937

Contact:

• Nils Hagen-Frederiksen
  Press Secretary
  717-418-2701
  nhagen-fre@pa.gov
• David Hixson
  Deputy Press Secretary
  717-772-2766
  dhixson@pa.gov