ComplaintsforPacifiCorp

• Initial Complaint

  03/15/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  These rate increases are ridiculous! Im paying $40 extra dollars a month for my electric, Im not buying the sorry excuses I heard on the news.

  Business response

  03/18/2024

  Hello ************,
  
  Pacific Power received your complaint from the Better Business Bureau dated March 15, 2024 regarding concerns about rate increases. 
  
  Pacific Power is a regulated utility.  As such, all of our rates must be approved by the ****** Public Utility Commission.  Our rates have gone up recently for a variety of reasons, including increased costs for fire mitigation, inflation, and a variety of company expenses that the company is allowed to recover through our rates. 
  
  You indicated that your billing had gone up $40 in your complaint, which you attribute to rate increases.  Please be aware that you are billed each month is based upon the energy you consume.  This causes your billing amount to fluctuate from month to month based upon your energy charges. 
  
  While the company has had rate increases in the last 12 months, the reason that your billing went from $115.97 in December 2023 to $161.20 in January of 2024 is due not only to rate changes, but also the fact that your usage went from 862 kWh in December to 1091 kWh in January.  The increase in your usage as well as the rate change resulted in your higher January billing.
  
  Your February billing has dropped back down to $129.90, and this reflects a usage drop to 856 kWh for the billing period. 
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  ***********************
  Pacific Power Customer Advocacy
  Toll Free#************************
  
  
  

  Customer response

  03/26/2024

  I never got a chance to accept or reject the business response.

• Initial Complaint

  02/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Today, on 2/4/24, I woke up to a complete lack of electrical power. I attempted to contact my electrical provider at all phone numbers listed for the company, all of which lead to a recording, with no option to contact a human being. As I have electric heat, and the weather is currently quite cold, this outage is a major health and safety issue. I regret the necessity of escalating this matter to an external agency without speaking directly to the business, but the business has refused to answer my contact attempts, so I am left with no alternative.

  Business response

  02/13/2024

  Good morning ************,
  
  The Better Business Bureau notified Pacific Power on February 8, **** of the concerns you filed with their office and asked that we investigate and respond.
  
  We would like to apologize for the inconvenience you experienced during a power outage on February 4, 2023.  Our records reflect two Juniper trees fell into the primary conductor around 12:03 PM causing the outage and the electric service was restored later that same evening around 6:55 PM.
  
  We understand you attempted to reach Pacific Power by telephone and were unable to reach a customer service representative promptly.  We recognize this can be difficult during an unplanned outage as call volume tends to increase during these times.  Our records do reflect you were able to report your power outage around 4:30 PM on February 4,****.
  
  As for your desired settlement of a full billing adjustment for the month of service that is not currently being delivered, we respectfully disagree any billing adjustment is warranted.  The balance owing on your electric account is for electric service used from December 14, 2023 through January 16, ****.  Additionally, you are not charged for energy use during a power outage as your electric meter is not receiving electricity.  Once power is restored, your electric meter will begin registering electric usage again.
  
  We would like to thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.  Although we strive to limit power outages, they can occur for a variety of reasons we may or may not be able to control.  When they do occur, we commit to turn the power back on as quickly as possible while keeping the safety of our employees, customers, and public in mind.
  
  Thank you.

  Customer response

  02/13/2024

   
  Complaint: 21245856
  
  I am rejecting this response because the business has failed to issue a billing adjustment for the day without power and heat. While PART of my usage is metered, my bill additionally shows a static "base rate" for the month which does not change based on usage, so the business' assertions regarding the lack of necessity of an adjustment simply do not hold water. 

  Please issue the adjustment promptly so we can all move on, thank you.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Customer response

  02/14/2024

  This business HAS NOT addressed the issues presented. Their entire response was a refusal to do so. Please reopen this case for a proper resolution.

• Initial Complaint

  01/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I reported a billing issue to Rocky Mountain Power on December 12, 2023, as my bill was $80 higher than usual. Despite a *** technician confirming a meter mix-up through ***s portal and not any Meter wiring issue, a promise was made to correct my account within 15 business days, my account remains unresolved after 20 business days.In the past 7 business days, I spoke with two agents to address concerns and seek an update on my account, as it has been over 15 business days since the *** tech visited. Despite putting the correct meter on my account, I'm still charged for my neighbor's bill, and I haven't received all my previous statements, which I requested to ensure transparency and check our usage entitlement. However, each time I call, the agents are unable to assist after I state my concerns and have escalated the matter via email twice now to their Support Supervisor teams, promising callbacks later that day or the next, which I haven't received.I've been told conflicting information and denied access to my usage statements (But my neighbor can only access them?). Despite promises of callbacks, I haven't received any.To resolve my concern all I am asking is that 1.) My *** account/portal show my power usage/meter with statements from what Ive used (not my neighbor). 2.) That I receive a copy of all previous billing statements from when I moved in into this townhome over a year and a half ago. I would like them provided to my email. 3.) contact from ***. (For the readers.. my neighbor got a hot tub and thats why the bill spiked up a lot.)

  Business response

  01/17/2024

  Good morning,

  **************** is working with our collections Supervisor ***** to resolve her billing issues. The credit adjustment to fix her billing has already been completed. We apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused her and the crossed meters have been fixed. 

  Regards,

  *****************

  Customer Regulatory Analyst

  Customer response

  01/17/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********. 
  

  After multiple calls. I was finally able to reach Toya who was amazing and helped fix my account. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  01/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Requested new service on 9/14/2023. Took multiple calls to receive any information on being added to the Estimators schedule. Finally on 10/6/2023 after we had to make a in person appearance at the local field office in *********, i get a email saying i needed to supply further information which was sent back on 10/10 and 10/12/2023. 11/17/2023 finally get a email with the estimate which did not get attached and took multiple attempts and finally another visit to the office to get the estimate to be able to sign and pay. Multiple calls and a couple site visits I finally get added to the schedule for install on 1/8/2024, 5 minutes before scheduled arrival window get a call canceling appointment with a response of "hopefully" later this week we can perform the work. The lack of scheduling on a timely manner has cost me multiple days off from work and equipment rentals wit now answer on when they will hold up there end of the contact to supply the power.

  Business response

  01/12/2024

  Pacific Power has sent an email to ************ regarding his complaint.  *********** is investigating the details of his complaint with the local manager for his community, and I will reach out to ************ with the results of the company's investigation.

  Regards,

   

  ***********************

  Customer Advocacy Team

  Business response

  01/16/2024

  I have included the text of an email update sent to ************ on January 16, 2024.  *********** has complied with internal policies regarding the adherence to local electric service requirements and installation prioritization for **************** service.  At this time, the company cannot offer ************ any compensation as some of the delay with installation has been due to work left incomplete and/or not up to current electric service requirements when the company was onsite ready to perform service installation.

  Regards,

  ***********************

  Pacific Power Customer Advocacy Team

• Initial Complaint

  12/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 11/17/2023, I discovered that my electric meter has been crossed with a neighbor's since at least 2019, when smart meters wee installed. This means that I have been billed for and paid for my neighbor's electricity use, and she mine. The meters on the apartment building are labeled and wired correctly. I believe the crossed meter issue is the result of Pacific Power having assigned the wrong meter number to my account.I had called ********************** a couple of times in 2022 because my bills didn't match my electricity use and the people I spoke with didn't suggest the possibility of crossed meters. My bills were very off and I was left to assume that electricity is very expensive.On 11/17/2023, **** from Pacific Power told me to turn off the main breaker switch for the meter I was being billed for; when I did that, power in my apartment did not go out. The power in my neighbor's apartment (Unit 3) went out. When I turned off the main breaker for the meter located next to the label for Unit 2, my power went off. But, that is not the meter I have been billed for, even though it is the meter that registers the electricity use for my unit.Two Pacific Power technicians visited my address on 11/21/2023 to confirm the crossed meters. They told me that the meter I have been billed for had twice as much electricity consumption as the actual meter for my unit. A work order (#*********) was opened on 11/22/2023. Pacific Power didn't follow-up with me; I called and emailed MULTIPLE times asking for updates. On 12/9/2023, a supervisor named ***** told me that it is not their fault and I will only be credited one year out of the 3+ years (I moved into my unit on 8/31/2020) I have been paying the wrong bill.Pacific Power made some progress in applying the correct meter number to my account, but when I log into my account, it shows usage data and a bill estimate for my neighbor's meter + my meter combined! I know I am entitled to the full amount of overpayments I made.

  Business response

  12/20/2023

  Hello,

  ********************** filed a complaint with the ****** ************************* regarding her billing adjustment.

  Pacific Power is currently investigating the complaint and will provide a response to the ****** *************************.

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  10/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In mid August 2023, I notified Rocky Mountain Power (***) that due to an insurance loss on my home, I was moving to a rental home temporarily and needed to set up a separate and new account for the rental home, and explicitly stated that I needed a separate bill for the rental, and a separate bill for my current home, and that they both needed to be mailed to my home address. I repeated the objective to the *** employee who took my call. I have since received September and October bills whereby *** rolled up the costs of the 2 electric bills into 1 bill. This is exactly the opposite of what I explicitly requested. When I called and asked that *** break out these cost and email or mail them to me immediately, "Will" the supervisor insisted that it was not possible and that he could "read the separate bill costs to me." I explained repeatedly that because I had an insurance claim, I needed to provide clear and separate bills for my home and the rental home, and that I needed the data now, not when the November bills are mailed out. **** stated that these data would be on future bills and that the bills would be corrected to separate bills for the next statement. This is not acceptable when *** failed to set up the bills as I requested in August 2023. I am bearing six figures of costs for the insurance claim, whereby I have to submit the bills to obtain reimbursement form my insurer, and it's further unacceptable that **** could read the numbers but insist he could not provide me those in written form now. I explained to **** that the fact that he can read the bill amounts for each property address on his computer screen means the data exists in ***'s database and can be printed and sent to me via the *** IT department. He insisted it could not. I need these data sent to me now, not in 2-3 weeks when the November bills come out, so that I can proceed with my reimbursement request to my insurer. This is astoundingly ridiculous.

  Business response

  10/31/2023

  Dear ****************,

  Thank you for your concerns. I have attached your billing from September of 2023 and October of 2023. On page 2 of both statements, you will find the separate billing and amounts for the address in question. There is no way for us to go back and send you a different invoice for those months, however you will receive two separate bills now going forward. 

  I apologize this was not completed for you when you first contacted our company. We appreciate your patience and business.

  Thank you for your time.

  Regards,

  *****************

  Customer Regulatory Analyst

  Customer response

  10/31/2023

   
  Complaint: 20788892
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  This is ridiculous. By law Rocky Mountain Power(***)  must be able to produce the electrical cost liability/bill for each property of which it has a meter. Again, I require the September and October bills for EACH service address, Hilltop, and ******* Drive so that I know the respective cost for EACH address. I will need the same for the November bill and any bill going forward. The *** employee who took my call to set up the second service address for Hilltop was told explicitly to set up 2 accounts.  That failure to do so I costing me the ability to obtain reimbursement from my insurer as they need to see each service address cost separately. The bills I received for September and October both were rolled up, blurring the costs of the 2 services addresses together, against my explicit direction when I set up the second service address on Hilltop.  These costs exist in ***'s database and they are refusing to provide them in any paper form. This can be simply printed in a report and emailed to me. 

  BBB, please find a contact higher in *** who understands the company's legal obligations to the public and their customer. I am NOT going to absorb several hundred dollars of *** bills because of an incompetent employee. If ***'s illy trained employees don't wish to lift a finger to pull existing data, they can refund me the entire bills for September and October. If they don't wish to take any accountability and continue to refuse to send me the data of MY USEAGE and COST at EACH ADDRESS for September and October, I will escalate this to the ****************************** and ****************** and report how the company is refusing to provide me my billing costs for the 2 service addresses, separately. In all candor, the *** employee that responded to this BBB request clearly doesn't comprehend the simple request.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Business response

  11/01/2023

  Hello ****************,

  I attached the bills in my initial response and both of them provide you with the charges for each individual residence you were billed for. The new bills you will receive will come as separate invoices. Your bills are in compliance with our tariffs and state regulations. 

  I truly do apologize that your original request to receive two separate bills was neglected but moving forward you will have two statements. 

  Thank you for your time.

  Regards,

  *****************

• Initial Complaint

  09/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 9/12/2023, this business double-charged me for my monthly bill. Despite attempts to resolve this error directly via the business, they are refusing to issue a refund for the unauthorized charge in a timely manner. This is occupying funds required to pay other bills and has created a major problem. I will need an immediate and full refund in the amount of $79.96 to resolve this matter.

  Customer response

  09/15/2023

  Supplemental information:
  
  I have discussed the matter with my bank and they have informed me that, owing to the type of transaction this was, Pacific Power is absolutely capable of reversing the charge at any time they choose. I would ask and encourage them to take this action voluntarily to resolve this issue so we can all move on with our lives.

  Customer response

  09/18/2023

  Contact received from business, via an automated email that does not accept replies. They seem to want me to sign up for some third party money transfer service, which I do not have or use. Again, my credit union has informed me this type of transfer can be easily reversed by the business, please do so, thank you

  Business response

  09/22/2023

  Good afternoon,

  After reviewing this compliant and the documents provided, we have concluded that this was filed against the incorrect company. Our company is legal entity "Pacific Power Group, LLC" a distributor of Marine and Industrial equipment and per the documents that were provided it looks as this should have been possibly filed against the entity "Pacific Power, a division of PacifiCorp and part of Berkshire **************** the power provider in **********, Oregon, and Washington. The document provided shows that the payments were deducted as "Power Bill", which would not have been done by our company. I would hope that Better Business Bureau would be able to assist this customer with redirecting the complaint to the correct account. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

  Regards,

  ***********************

  Sr. Financial Analyst

  ************

  Customer response

  09/22/2023

  Hi there. You have taken way too long to get around to reviewing this filing, and the original issue has already passed, and there is no reason to continue this complaint.

  However, to whoever is having trouble figuring out the address of this business: It is listed on your own website, on the page I filed the complaint from. You can find this page here: *****************************************************************************************************************************************************

  Customer response

  09/27/2023

  Hi there. I filed from your own listing for this business. If any of the information is incorrect or unclear, I am not responsible for that, and you should direct your concerns to the proper internal BBB department. If you are not willing to process complaints against this business than I would suggest you remove the invalid listing to avoid wasting anyone else's time

  Business response

  09/29/2023

  Good morning ************,

  The amount you paid twice by mistake and requested to be refunded was already reversed back to your bank on September 19, 2023. This information was also provided to the ****** ************************* as well. Please contact your financial institution to inquire why the funds have not posted to your account. 

  Thank you for your time.

  Regards,

  *****************

  Customer Regulatory Analyst

  Customer response

  09/29/2023

   
  I filed this weeks ago and they rejected it and now it went through for some reason. Sorry they re-bothered you about this resolved issue. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  09/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I received a payment plan issued on Sep/18/2023 in the total amount of $209.26, I opened my account online and it's showing that my current bill is of $138,65 I waited 43min to speak to someone that didn't knew how to explain how is that possible. I also didn't request any payment plan, so this really make no sense to me! In fact when I called to have my billing adjust and confirm my new address the agent was very helpful.It makes no sense to me that I'm being charging more that I own.The bill seems to be very clear, however this letter caused me a big confusion and now frustration as the operator had no knowledge of his job.I would like to have this verified ASAP hence my next bill due date is OCT/11/2023.Regards,*******

  Business response

  09/28/2023

  Good morning ****************,

  Thank you for your concerns. Your total account balance is $209.26 and I removed the payment plan from your account per your request. Please contact me directly if you would like to go over your billing and set up a payment plan that works for you. My direct email is *************************************** and my direct phone number is **************. You can contact me Monday - Friday from 8am to 5pm MST. 

  I look forward to hearing from you.

  Regards,

  *****************

  Customer Regulatory Analyst 

  Customer response

  10/10/2023

  I have responded to the business on 10-05-23 and so far I have not heard from them, see attachment. Thanks 

  Customer response

  10/12/2023

  Hello ******!

   

  I hope you are doing well!

   

  I was able to speak with someone last night so this has been taken care of.

   

  You may please close the issue.

   

  I would love to give you guys a review if possible, BBB has helped me a lot in all the complaints I've made, and even when the outcome was not what I wanted, the whole team has been incredibly professional!

   

  Thank you to all BBB Team Staff that has helped many of us!

   

  Have a beautiful day!

   

  *****

• Initial Complaint

  08/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  So a leg went out on my meter I called pacific power and they sent someone to fix it. Except they didn't fix *********I was told that they needed a crew to look at It, I've called every day since to try and get information about when we'll have power again.Mainly for my wife who has so many medical issues that we have a nurse twice a day 5 days a week. I was told 3 times that someone would be by to fix it later in the day. Now I've just been told no one will be by for 4 more days WTF! WE CAN'T COOK WE CAN'T BATHE WE CAN'T GET COOL, WE CAN'T CLEAN OUR CLOTHES, NOT TO MENTION NOT BEING ABLE TO USE MEDICAL DEVICES ESSENTIAL TO MY WIFES WELL BEING!Pacific power has lied over and over to us, I assume to make their customer service jobs easier. I don't have the money to keep eating out renting a 2 hotel rooms at night and go to a laundry mat.That's why I bought a house.Do your jobs.Tell the truth.

  Business response

  08/08/2023

  Dear ********************,

  We apologize for the inconvenience the outages and having partial power has caused you. Our records indicate your power was fully restored on Sunday, August 6, 2023, around 9pm. Please make sure that you reset your main breakers. 

  Thank you for your time and patience.

  Regards,

  *****************

  Customer Regulatory Analyst

  Customer response

  08/11/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  08/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Eagle Mountain, **** residents have experienced 4 power outages within the last 30 days (7/4/23-8/4/23). This is unacceptable. This is creating disruption in remote work resulting in job instability and creating unsafe and unsanitary environments due to lack of power for proper refrigeration. The issue needs to be fixed.

  Business response

  08/09/2023

  Good morning,      
  

  We would like to apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced and hope you will find the below information beneficial.
  
  As part of our investigation, we reviewed the outage history for your circuit for the past 30 days and confirmed you have experienced four sustained power outages, or outages lasting more than 5 minutes:
  
  Date          Duration                Cause
  08/04/23 - 1 Hour 4 ********* Track hoe contacted transmission line.
  07/31/23 - 1 Hour 22 ********* Primary underground - Deterioration
  07/26/23 - 2 Hours 44 ********* Emergency Interruption -  Bushing at substation replaced
  07/25/23 - 3 Hours 58 ********* *********** hit line
  
  Of the sustained outages, two interruptions were caused by non-Rocky Mountain Power personnel and were considered beyond our control. 
  
  On July 26, 2023, emergency repairs were needed at the substation. A bushing was found to be failing and needed to be replaced. The work could only be safely performed with the electric service de-energized. Rocky Mountain Power attempted outbound calls to our customers to try and notify of the emergency work.
  
  On July 31, 2023, an outage was caused by deterioration of our equipment. We do not always know a piece of equipment is going to fail before it actually does. When our equipment does fail, we try to respond quickly to repair or replace it and restore service.
  
  We thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention as two-way communication with our customers is vital to our success. Although we strive to limit power outages, they can occur for a variety of reasons we may or may not be able to control. When they do occur, we commit to turn the power back on as quickly as possible while keeping the safety of our employees, customers, and public in mind.

  We will continue to monitor the outages on your circuit and encourage you to continue to report any outages your experience. 

  Thank you.

  Customer response

  08/09/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩