Did you hear the one about BGE's too-low bill?

Dan Thanh Dang | Consuming Interests

June 15, 2008

Frank Margolis doesn't think his Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. bill is nearly steep enough.

Intent on finding a way to pay the utility more than what he is billed every month, the 70-year-old professor e-mailed me a few weeks ago for help.

This is not a request I get every day.

Margolis was chatting recently with a colleague who was complaining bitterly about utility bills that topped $400 to $500 a month. Margolis went home to dig out his own June statement - $111.

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Upon closer examination, Margolis noticed that BGE had failed to charge him at all for the amount of electricity he used. Worse, when Margolis dug up prior bills, he found that not only did it fail to charge him for electricity supply this year, but BGE also failed to charge him for any power use as far back, possibly, as 2004.

Now, many might choose to ignore this seemingly excellent error, given that BGE households are paying about 80 percent more for electricity than they were three years ago. But Margolis - rightfully so, I might add - decided that he wanted no BGE power shock from out of the blue.

"I know it's bizarre," Margolis said. "I was sure if I called BGE, I would have gotten somebody who wouldn't know what was going on or wouldn't know what to do with me. Or they'd do something crazy like turn off my electricity. So I thought you could help."

"It's dumb," Margolis said, sheepishly explaining his role in the slip-up. "But when the bill comes in, like a lot of bills, I pay it and drop it in the drawer. I always check my credit card bill, but I figure with my utility bill, I'm not going to go out and check the meter. So I didn't pay attention to it."

Margolis has pledged to stop such neglect immediately.

I took a look at Margolis' bills and saw that BGE was, indeed, charging him for the amount of gas used, gas delivery services, electricity delivery service and state and local taxes and surcharges. But nowhere was there a charge for the number of electric kilowatt hours used.

"I'm worried," Margolis said. "My biggest concern isn't even paying whatever the bill would be; I'm more worried they will make me pay penalties and fees, too."

I placed calls to BGE, the Office of the People's Counsel (OPC) and the Public Service Commission (PSC).

BGE immediately launched an investigation.

The calls to the OPC, which represents the interest of consumers in utility matters, and the PSC, which regulates utilities, eased my concerns just a little. Both pointed me to the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR).

"We get a couple of these cases every year," said Theresa V. Czarski, deputy People's Counsel.

Two sets of rules could apply.

In the first scenario when you are undercharged, regulations allow electric companies to go back 12 months prior to when the error was discovered to retroactively bill you for power used. If the utility can prove the error occurred for longer than 12 months, it must seek permission from the PSC to retroactively charge you for longer than that, but for no more than three years.

If the total amount of the undercharge adds up to more than 35 percent of your average monthly bill during the preceding three months, regulations say the utility must offer you a payment plan. The utility also cannot charge you interest on the amount owed.

You are then given 20 days notice and a chance to respond. That would allow you to list reasons why your power usage might have changed over that period of time, including having fewer people living in your home, switching from electric heat to gas heat or abnormal weather conditions.

I braced Margolis for the fact that he could owe up to three years of power supply charges.