Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/23/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Rate Schedule and Price Gouging: a. The rate increase from September 2022 (.12187/kWh) to October 2022 (.16187/kWh) is a 34% increase. This does not include usage- it is the increase of the price/rate only. b. APL's response to complaints about the rate states that the rate is based on AEP’s regulated rate; however, AEP’s rate from residential customers from 10/22-12/22 is .0732/kWh. In September 2022, our charges were 68.6% higher than they would have been with AEP and for October, our charges were 123.8% higher than they would have been with AEP. This is completely unrelated to our usage and is only comparing the rate that AEP is allowed to charge vs. the unregulated rate that APL is charging. d. We are interested in the market rate which APL is able to purchase electricity before reselling to me at a rate well over the public utility regulated rate. We would like an ethical explanation from APL to justify taking something as basic as “heat in winter”, and extracting as much profit as they can (up to 94%) at the expense of Ohio citizens.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/28/2022

  A resident’s satisfaction with and opinion of American Power & Light (AP&L) are important to us, and we regret that you are not happy with the services that we have provided to you. Per the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), AP&L must charge the customer what the area’s default utility residential rate would be for their particular amount of usage. The location of Ms. ************’ property, The Annex at ******, means that AP&L must use the residential rates of American Electric Power (AEP) to calculate their bill each month. Unfortunately all invoices created for The Annex at ****** in September and October did not include the full rate calculation of AEP’s residential rate and were under billed due to this system error. We will not be back billing the residents to recoup this cost however. The system error has been resolved and the November billings are now using the correct residential rate for the site.

  AEP has a submetering bill calculation spreadsheet on their website for customers of submetering companies, such as AP&L, to double check their usage charges against the default residential cost. This can be found at https://www.aepohio.com/company/about/rates/. The bottom of this page contains the Submetering Bill Calculation Spreadsheet. Once you’ve downloaded this you will need to enable editing and content, which Excel should prompt you to do. Please plug the usage totals into the corresponding month on the spreadsheet. You’ll plug 203 kwh into the September 2022 row, 639 kwh into October 2022, and 721 kwh into November 2022. AEP’s charges for these time periods are $42.45, $104.73, and $118.12 respectively, versus AP&L’s charges of $24.74, $74.04, and $118.11.

  AP&L under billed Ms. ************ by a total of $50.40. This was no at no fault of the customers at The Annex at ******, so we will not try to recoup the difference. You can see that AEP’s total charge for 721 kwh during the month of November was $118.12, to which AP&L charged $118.11, showing that the correct rate is now being used. Going forward AEP’s residential rate will be employed to calculate the usage total for Ms. ************. We hope this response has answered your questions and provided clarity on AP&L’s billing practices. We've also attached AEP's spreadsheet for ease of access as well. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/28/2022

  I spoke with the Public Utility Commission of Ohio and they confirmed that the AEP rate is .0732/kWh. Our most recent rate was .16381/kWh. This is 124% higher than the regulated rate. APL is implying that because they are not legally regulated by the Public Utility Commission, that they have no obligation to keep their rates reasonable. I am not satisfied with their answer. The information they gave is public information that I am already aware of. I already understand that submetering companies are not regulated. My complaint is that as an Ohio tenant/customer, it is unreasonable that I should have to pay 124% more than another ohio renter using the same amount of electricity. The PUCO and Ohio Supreme court addressed submetering companies in 2016 and no one took responsibility to protect Ohio citizens and hold these companies accountable. Because of this, I am in the situation I am in with APL. Therefore, I will continue to utilize my resources to hold this company accountable. 

  
  

  Also, APL did not address the market rate at which they are able to purchase the electricity.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/28/2022

  Good Afternoon,

  The rate of .0732/kwh is the generation cost. It does not include their transmission and distribution charge, which is factored into our charge as a single line item- Electric Generation, Transmission, and Distribution- on your invoice. Their transmission and distribution charges are specific to the amount of power used in a cycle, but their base charge is .0732/kwh, which is what ours is as well. We have this built into our rate engine and update it each month to match American Electric Power's. AEP's bill calculation spreadsheet factors in the cost of transmission and distribution, which is why we' encourage you to check your bill totals from AP&L against what AEP would have billed you. Our rate system comes directly from their calculations per the PUCO. Please utilize the spread sheet to see what your total cost would have been over your last 3 invoices if you would have had AEP as your supplier. This bill calculator comes directly from their website. Let us know if you have difficulty using it and we would be happy to help. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/08/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Today, November 8, 2022, I came home to no electricity. My bill is due 11/10/2022 but was already paid in full. I called American Power and Light at 5:39pm but they were closed. I called the after hours number and was told an agent would be out within 4 hours. I called the after hours number at 7:33pm for an ETA and was told by the representative that no one would be out tonight and to call American Power and Light tomorrow. This rep said they are an answering service and there’s nothing they can do to help me because my account is labeled disconnected for non payment. I explained to **** ***** that I have a 0 balance and he said that even if I was disconnected for non payment in error, there is no one that can help me until 8am tomorrow. I have a documented medical condition that I was diagnosed with on 1/31/2021 that requires me to sleep with an electric machine. I can’t even enter my apartment because my garage door is electric and there isn’t a manual way to enter through the outside of my garage. My house key is inside my apartment because I don’t use it since my garage is attached to my apartment and I have entered my unit since August 2018.. I can’t even get my medical machine and go elsewhere due to my electricity being off. My American Power & Light Account # is *******.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/02/2022

  American Power and Light (“APL”) appreciates the opportunity to respond to the complaint filed by Ms. ********, a resident in an apartment community at which APL provides sub-metering and billing services to the owner or property manager of the apartment community. APL strives to ensure that residents understand their billing statements and are kept apprised of past due amounts owed to APL.
  
  In connection with Ms. ********’s billing and payment history, it may be helpful to provide a description of her billing statements and notices of disconnect for the prior three month period. To that end:
  
  On September 21, 2022, APL sent Ms. ******** her billing statement, in which, the amount owed to APL by Ms. ******** was $123.42. Her payment was due on or before October 11, 2022, but was not made.
  
  On October 15, 2022, APL sent Ms. ******** a notice of disconnect, which stated that if she did not pay APL the overdue amount of $123.42 on or before October 29, 2022, her electricity would be disconnected. In APL’s sole discretion, APL did not disconnect her electricity on October 29, 2022.
  
  On October 20, 2022, APL sent Ms. ******** her billing statement, in which, the amount owed to APL by Ms. ******** was $225.60. This included the $123.42 amount that was due under her prior billing statement, but which had not yet been paid by Ms. ********.
  
  On November 3, 2022, APL sent a second notice of disconnect to Ms. ********, which stated that if she did not pay APL the overdue amount of $123.42 on or before November 6, 2022, her electricity would be disconnected. Because she did not make this payment by the due date of November 6, 2022, her electricity was disconnected on November 8, 2022.
  
  Residents seeking to have electricity re-connected must pay any past due amounts, any amounts attributed to electricity usage previously billed (including amounts that have been billed, but for which payment is not yet due), and a re-connect fee. On November 8, 2022, after the disconnection of her electricity, in order to have her electricity re-connected, Ms. ******** made a $315.60 payment to APL.
  
  On November 18, 2022, APL sent Ms. ******** a billing statement. This billing statement reflects her payment of $315.60 to APL and also reflects a credit to her account in the amount of $37.00 (this credit was to her account was because the amount that she paid to APL on November 8, 2022 to restore her electricity was $37.00 more than the necessary amount). The November 18, 2022 billing statement includes the amount owed to APL by Ms. ******** as of that date. After applying the $37.00 credit, this amount is $54.36.
  
  Except in limited circumstances (which do not apply to Ms. ********), APL does not provide after hour services to residents in the event of disconnection of electricity. APL understands that there may be circumstances in which certain qualifying medical conditions may delay or postpone a disconnection of electricity services, however, APL requires a resident to complete a form (which must be certified by a physician) and submit the completed form to APL prior to the date on which disconnection is scheduled to occur. Unfortunately, Ms. ******** did not take the necessary steps or submit the required form prior to the date on which her electricity was disconnected. APL notes that once the required form is submitted to APL and approved by APL, it is effective for thirty days, during which time a resident’s electricity will not be disconnected by APL. Upon expiration of the thirty day period, if desired by the resident, the resident may submit a new form to APL. A resident may rely on the medical exception to disconnect no more than three times during a rolling twelve month period.
  
  APL trusts that the responses above have fully addressed Ms. ********’s complaint, but to the extent that she would like to do so, APL would be happy to speak with Ms. ******** concerning the aforementioned billing statements, notices of disconnection and medical condition form described above.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/02/2022

  [If you do not say why you are rejecting the company's response, BBB must close your complaint.] 
  
  Complaint: 18378107
  
  I am rejecting this response because: My entire balance was paid BEFORE the due date that was printed on my billing statement that I received via US Mail. APL did not send any notification of disconnect to my current email. I NEVER received a phone call about being disconnected, nor did I receive anything US mail.  I was told on November 8th when I called APL that someone would be out in a few hours. I called back for an ETA and was told no one would be out. I have never in my life been disconnected for electric and one phone call and my balance would’ve been paid in full at any given time.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ********