The Public Utility Commission Wednesday released its latest Utility Consumer Activities Report and Evaluation (UCARE Report), which shows a slight decrease in consumer complaints about utilities, a small increase in payment arrangement requests and the majority of customers contacting the PUC’s Bureau of Consumer Services for assistance rated their experience as positive during 2016.
"The PUC is focused on ensuring that consumer issues are addressed in an effective manner, and this annual UCARE report is an important measure of the handling of consumer issues by utilities and the Commission,” said PUC Chairman Gladys M. Brown. “Consumers should call the PUC’s Bureau of Consumer Services, at 1-800-692-7380, if they are unable to reach an agreement with a utility or are unsatisfied with the utility’s response to their problem.”
The UCARE Report is an annual evaluation of the customer service performance of the state’s major jurisdictional electric, natural gas, water, wastewater and telephone companies.
Overall, the total number of consumer complaints received by BCS decreased from 10,684 in 2015 to 10,368 in 2016, a 3 percent drop. During that same period the number of PARs rose from 50,434 to 52,898, which is a 5 percent increase.
PUC data also shows an ongoing downward trend in overall consumer complaints – which are currently at the lowest level in more than a decade.
Complaints involving electric and natural gas utilities account for the large majority (approximately 77 percent) of all consumer complaints filed with the PUC. During 2016 the volume of consumer complaints concerning electric utilities fell by 8 percent, while complaints involving natural gas utilities dropped by 14 percent.
Conversely, the numbers of complaints filed by residential customers involving telephone services rose by 34 percent, compared to 2015, and the number of complaints against water utilities went up by 14 percent.
Apart from the electric and other utility categories, requests for PARs decreased for every category of utility service between 2015 and 2016, including natural gas (1 percent), water (4 percent) and telephone (21 percent).
Electric rose by 8 percent, while other utilities went up 150 percent.
According to the report, billing disputes were the most common reason for residential consumer complaints about the electric (18 percent) and water (33 percent) utilities.
Personnel problems were the primary reason for residential consumer complaints about the natural gas industry (17 percent). Unsatisfactory service was the main reason for residential consumer complaints about the telephone industry (51 percent).
Click Here for a copy of the report.
For more information on its responsibilities, visit the Public Utility Commission website.
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