SCORE ONE FOR JCP&L

Hey, now, I’m not a totally unreasonable person. As my faithful readers (reader?) already know, I’ve had an ongoing issue with JCP&L and their billing practices. But it is not my intent just to throw shit their way for the sake of it. I’m just being diligent. Hey, I’ve been frugal since before it was cool and I strongly believe that people need to be on top of these things, not just JCP&L but ALL your bills…I’ve discovered discrepancies in my T-Mobile bills, hospital bills, bank statements etc. I think it is just sound financial policy to analyze any bill before paying because it’s a hell of a lot easier to verify the correct amount than to try to get a refund on an overpayment. That being said, I am not a blowhard for the mere joy of blowhardiness and so I present the conclusion of this particular episode:

I was contacted by Lisa, who as it turns out, has the position of “Consumer Advocate” for JCP&L. I wasn’t aware the position existed, and although it may be a mandated position and she obviously has a vested interest, I am nonetheless cautiously impressed. So, Lisa offered to come out and read the meter and then discuss it with me. In the meantime, my son Remy and I did a bit of brainstorming regarding the possibility that our electricity consumption had risen by 77% … the main possible culprit being the humongous computer he brought back from MIT for the summer and the mitigating factors of my being off work (thus consuming electricity during a period of time I would usually be at work) and the round the clock consumption of the crazy waking/sleep cycle of your typical teenager in the summertime (ie. Up all night). He did a few calculations as he often does and concluded it was unlikely, yet possible. Turns out it’s not as unlikely as we thought.

Unfortunately, I was tied up in jury duty at the time of our appointment and wasn’t able to meet with Lisa. However, after several attempts we finally connected on the phone and Lisa explained to me that she personally read the meter and it as it turned out, it was correct. She also identified an issue with the utility’s access to the meters which is apparently the source of why there are so many estimates, and she stated that she would work with the Housing Authority to obtain the access…the lack of which is most likely an oversight as they generally do have access to various Housing Authority property utility rooms.

So, the conclusion is, as follows: The original estimate WAS off but not as crazily as I originally concluded. The second estimate was an actual reading although that was not presented clearly in the re-billing. The reason the estimate was made was not due to bad staffing policy but miscommunication between the Housing Authority and JCP&L regarding access to the meters. Mystery solved, nefariousness disproven….THIS time.

That’s a relief because I don’t ‘fight the man’ for the pure joy of fighting…although the joy does sometimes exist. It’s refreshing to NOT have one’s sense of paranoia reinforced at every turn, especially after the zeitgeist of the W years, and to add a little bit more trust to these public relationships. And I come away from this particular exchange with JCP&L impressed with their handling, or more precisely, Lisa’s handling of the situation. She really did go out of her way to get to the bottom of it AND she persisted in contacting me until she was successful and I find that rare. So…score one for the Man in their employment of Lisa, who apparently takes the term ‘advocate’ in her job title to heart. Until next time!