Utilities

When you live at home or on campus during college, oftentimes you’ll never see a utility bill until you move into your first apartment. It can be quite a shock, suddenly having someone demand $50, $150, or even $600 a month for something that seemed so commonplace and necessary. It was a shock for me as someone in a one bedroom apartment getting charged over $150 a month but I complained to my parents about it and they gave me the solution.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is a regulatory agency designed to help California residents not get scammed by Public Utilities, such as water, and in particular, electricity. All one has to do is submit a complaint about your utility and they’ll look into it for you. It’s free, there’s no limit to the amount of complaints you can submit (within reason), and it’s effective.

One thing, you do have to call your utility company, don’t tell them you’re submitting a complaint, but do ask them why your bill is so high. One of the four questions will ask if you’ve contacted your provider and what they said. The question doesn’t ask if the issue was resolved, just if you contacted the provider and what their response was. My provider usually gives me the run around and I let the CPUC know that.

I was complaining to my parents because it seemed like no matter what I did my bill stayed around $150 a month. Then I submitted my first complaint, and my bill went from around $150 a month to $25 a month. I actually called my provider and asked for a refund for 7 previous months and they said no. My bill stayed down between $25 and $60, and then one month, I got a charge for $70 during a month where I’d been home only a few days, and it was higher than the next month during which I’d been home the entire time. I complained to my utility company (they said to kick rocks metaphorically) and submitted another CPUC complaint. It went back down to $25.

Every time my bill has gone over $70 I’ve complained unless I truly felt that it was deserved, but at this point, I’ve submitted at least 5 complaints and I think that my utility company knows I’ll complain and they’ll be investigated so they’re keep my charges honest for now. But I’ll be ready when they start to slip up.

You need to ask yourself, does your monthly bill make sense? Is it to high? When you called, did your utility company ask you to see if anyone was stealing power (mine recommended I check that out). If so, submit a CPUC. Yes, it’s a bit of work, but it’s so worth it. Imagine how much poorer I’d be years later at $150 a month or about $2000 a year, vs $25 a month or about $300 per year. That’s a crazy difference that keep on going year after year.

As a California resident, you receive around a $120 credit each year, my first year, I still owed about $30 on it. After I complained several times (again it’s free and easy) that credit lasted me like 4 months. I actually began to forget how to pay!

One caveat. You might be getting charged fairly (I’m inclined to think you’re not, but what do I know) and your reduction might not be as dramatic. I think that my utility company was charging me the rate for the family that lived in my apartment before me and never bothered to update the usage until I complained. Also, I use less electricity compared to my neighbors so my bill is actually mostly fees. However, submitting complaints when reasonable, can save you a lot over the lifetime of your lease.

Some suggested reasons to complain:
– My bill is too high
– Can someone please explain why my bill is so high? I’ve done all I can to reduce it and it’s not changing at all.
– My utility company is not being clear and told me to see if neighbors are using my power which is crazy.
– I looked at my meter and I’m using on average 0.1kWh which at a rate of 3 cents per kWh, multiplied by 30 days in a month and 24 hours in a day comes out to $21.6 but I’m being charged $150. Please explain.
– My utility is charging me more for a month where I was home a total of 5 days compared to this month when I’ve been home every day.

The CPUC was founded to help the public, you, not get scammed, which shows that the government knows that utility companies are likely to scam their customers. Good luck and go get your bill lowered.