Consumers Energy under investigation
MICHIGAN (WNEM) - The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) is investigating Consumers Energy over persistent complaints about malfunctioning gas meters, possible overbilling, and delays in installation services.
The MPSC said it received multiple complaints from customers who were frustrated by malfunctioning meters not showing the amount of electricity used. Other customers were concerned their bills were abnormally high due to Consumers Energy making estimates in the absence of accurate meter readings, MPSC said.
MPSC said Consumers Energy has been transitioning its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) electric meters from using 3G cellular telephone towers to 4G-based meters. MPSC gave Consumers a waiver granting the company permission to use alternative testing procedures for the meters that were being removed from service and upgraded to 4G.
However, after investigating complaints, MPSC said it found Consumers was estimating bills for many customers with 3G meters before companies discontinued operating 3G service in January because the meters were malfunctioning.
MPSC said Consumers had been aware of these malfunctions as far back as 2020 and more than 900,000 meters were potentially at risk. However, Consumers didn’t bring up this issue when seeking a meter testing waiver from MPSC for alternative testing procedures.
MPSC said it was concerned about this situation and other meter reporting discrepancies, as well as multiple complaints received in the past year about Consumers’ not meeting service installation standards in regard to timeliness.
The commission said staff would analyze data from Consumers and make recommendations to address the identified issues by Sept. 29.
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Source: WNEM
