Kullen demands action from BGE

Friday, Feb. 20, 2009

More than 100 people jammed Chesapeake Beach Town Hall for a presentation by BGE officials in response to complaints of soaring utility bills, poor customer service and frequent outages. The company has about 7,800 customers in northern Calvert County, mostly concentrated in the Twin Beaches.

Despite being Valentine's Day, there was little love in the air during the contentious two-and-a-half hour meeting.

"I was very disappointed in BGE's response to the meeting," Del. Sue Kullen (D-Calvert) said on Tuesday. "They didn't correctly anticipate the anger in the community. I think their poor response speaks to the tone deafness of the customer service in Calvert County."

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a Chesapeake Beach resident who also attended the meeting, said subsequent conversations with BGE representatives have yielded some positive news.

The company pledged to send 12 personnel to the communities to meet individually with ratepayers who have lodged complaints, discuss programs that are available for low-income households, and explain to customers how to read their meters so they can monitor their electricity usage, said Miller (D-Calvert, Prince George's).

"They're going to identify any and all problems that exist and attempt to remedy them," he said on Tuesday.

BGE spokeswoman Linda J. Foy said people who attended the meeting will be contacted over the next several days to address individual concerns. "We definitely want to make this very personal and have a one-on-one with the customers," she said.

Kullen, however, was not pleased at the outcome of Saturday's meeting and sent a sharply-worded letter to BGE on Monday alleging it was not prepared for the level of residents' dissatisfaction at the meeting and has handled customer service poorly.

"Considering the volume of complaints received, I think BGE should have sent their A-Team," Kullen wrote in her letter to Bonnie L. Johansen, a government relations liaison for Constellation Energy Group, BGE's parent company. She noted that Chesapeake Beach Mayor Bruce A. Wahl had to repeatedly play peacemaker and calm the angry crowd.

But Foy maintained the company had the appropriate people and materials at the meeting to discuss how energy bills are calculated and what energy conservation measures can be implemented to decrease costs.

The crowd became agitated when they felt like BGE officials were ignoring their specific circumstances.

"Understandably, customers were upset and they wanted to share their individual experiences with us," Foy said.

North Beach Town Council Member Lyn Striegel said that her December utility bill was $200 higher than normal, even though she was out of town for two weeks of the month.

One resident reported a bill six times the usual $100 amount, while others have reported unexplained jumps of varying degrees.

"I'm just hearing these very strange stories and I don't think BGE is addressing it," she said. Striegel has called for an internal investigation to see whether a computer glitch may be to blame for higher bills.

One woman told the audience at Saturday's meeting that she might have to sell her house if the high bills continue. Another person's suggestion that Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative provide electricity to the Beaches elicited cheers from the audience, Striegel said.

Colder temperatures have driven higher energy usage over the past few months, said Mark Case, senior vice president of regulatory and strategy for BGE. This winter has been 10 percent colder on average than last year, he said.

"A customer will use twice as much energy on a day when temperatures dip below 30 degrees. And we have had a lot of days like that this winter," Case said.

But Striegel doubts that rationale.

"I think there is something that has gone wrong here," she said. "This isn't just the cold."

The combination of increased consumption, higher energy prices and homes that have less efficient heating systems has conspired to cause higher bills, Case said.

While about one-quarter of BGE customers saw their bills increase, another 25 percent saw their costs go down by making their homes more energy-efficient, he said.

"Not all customers have the same experience," Case said. "You really have to look at it across the spectrum."

Kullen's letter also listed several major issues that BGE needs to address, including individual meetings in a timely manner with all persons who requested investigations into high utility bills.

She said there needs to be more direct customer service with ratepayers, rather than recorded messages and form letters, and a full description of cost-savings programs that customers can take advantage of.

Many of the complaints Kullen has received point to a 50 percent or 100 percent increase in kilowatt usage, which she said suggests a software problem.

The state Public Service Commission is scheduled to hear testimony on the high volume of complaints on Feb. 26.

"Much more has to be done to restore the public confidence in BGE," Kullen wrote. "I am quite frankly tired of the issues and will again make a plea that BGE recognize or the Public Service Commission recommend that these 8,000 customers are better served through another electric provider. As one person so eloquently said on Saturday, we are tired of being treated like the ‘red-headed stepchild' of BGE."

abrody@somdnews.com