WICKLIFFE, Ohio — For a 948 square foot house, it was a monthly energy bill Pat Picciano couldn't believe.
"This is not real; it can’t be right: $929," he exclaimed.
An analysis by News 5 revealed that $612.49 of his monthly bill was a result of him enrolling in FirstEnergy's 'Equal Payment Plan,' a program meant to balance out your energy bill between the winter and summer months.
Although, as FirstEnergy's website explains, there is a bill adjustment that occurs after 12 months of enrolling in the program:
An annual true-up or reconciliation occurs on the anniversary month of the plan. At the anniversary month, the system releases the balance the customer has accumulated while on the plan. If the customer has a credit, meaning the EPP amount billed was higher than the actual usage, the credit will apply to the consumption charge at the time of the true-up. If there is a debit or balance owed, the customer must pay that balance in addition to the current EPP amount for the anniversary month. A bill message on the bill will advise the customer the new Budget amount for the next billing cycle.
In Picciano's case, the estimated monthly bill for his daughter was $150 a month. That estimate ended up resulting in a difference of more than $600 on her anniversary month.
"What is the sense of having this Equal Payment Plan when you have to catch up at the end of the plan and wham, it is $600 more," he said. "It’s insane."
A bill breakdown that Picciano said was hard to decipher when it came to nailing down what caused the increase. He's no rocket scientist, but he is an electrical engineer at NASA.
"A lot of this does not escape me: I know there's electrons being pushed through that copper wire over my head and right into my house," he said. "It’s easy, and they have found a way to make it so difficult that they charge me $900 a month for a small house in Wickliffe, and it's just not fair."
News 5 reached out to FirstEnergy about the miscalculation on Picciano's bill and the 'Equal Payment Plan:'
According to a review of this customer’s usage history, the consumption has increased overall this year when compared to last...The budget amount is calculated based off of the recent twelve-month usage history. The budget amount is reviewed quarterly and did adjust to better match the customer’s usage. However, with each review the increased usage—especially during the winter months— led to the high true-up balance for this customer.
When the customer is on the budget, he/she is responsible for paying the budget amount, not the actual account balance/actual usage at that time. At the end of the year during the true-up period for the budget, the remaining actual account balance (difference from being on the budget) becomes due at that time. They are not being “overcharged” for electricity; they are simply receiving a larger bill to make up for usage they were not billed for during the months they received the lower budgeted bills.
A spokesperson with FirstEnergy went on to say that Picciano’s account has been enrolled in a payment plan to help with paying down the balance.
"In this case, based on the information provided, the budget was trued-up, and the difference between the amount the customer paid while on the budget and the actual bill charges became due," a spokesperson said. "When this occurs (if there is still an active account) and a high balance is due, the company will offer a make-up agreement in order to help with the balance due. The customer would just need to contact our customer service team or use self-service on our website to enroll in the agreement."
However, Picciano told News 5 he’s filing a complaint with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, hoping others can avoid getting lost in the small print of what he says is confusing terms and misleading minutiae.
"I understand the kilowatt hours, but I don't understand all the billing and marketing mumbo-jumbo," he said. "I understand the Equal Payment Plan. It should work. It obviously didn’t."
Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard or on Facebook Clay LePard News 5.
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