May 6—LOCKPORT — Tammy Ulrich works for J. Fitzgerald Group, the West Main Street, Lockport-based marketing agency. She's in charge of recording and paying the bills, and for the last two years the business has been at odds with New York State Electric and Gas.

"This year's spring bill came in at $4,468.50," Ulrich said. "After they came in twice to read the meters, the bill was brought down to $249.55. Last year the same thing happened. It came in at thousands and then was reduced down to less than $100."

That wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that NYSEG required J. Fitzgerald Group to pay the bill prior to it being adjusted. The difference became a credit toward future charges, and to get that, Ulrich said, she had to file a complaint with the New York State Public Service Commission.

"That seems to be the only way we can get the ball rolling for someone to address the issue at NYSEG," Ulrich said.

That experience apparently isn't limited to J. Fitzgerald Group. Since late 2022, NYSEG and sister company Rochester Gas & Electric have been under investigation by the New York State Public Service Commission, following its discovery of "thousands of complaints" against the utility, Public Information Officer James Denn told the Union-Sun & Journal.

"From complaints and comments received to date, it is clear something is amiss regarding the utility's billing system, meter reading procedures, ability to process 'complex bills' including solar and renewable energy generally, and customer service," Denn wrote in an email. "We are reviewing and considering the submitted comments and complaints to determine our future course of action."

"Ensuring customer bills are accurate is the singular responsibility of the utility," Denn added.

NYSEG spokesperson Alexis Arnold told the US&J on Monday that a "perfect storm" of contributing factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing "severe" shortage of workers, is behind the inaccurate bills.

"we understand the impacts some of our customers have faced with their bills," Arnold said in a written statement. "In fact, we have already made significant progress by hiring 120 new customer service representatives, with more to come, which has resulted in reducing customer issues and streamlining our billing processes."

NYSEG, which has almost 1.3 million customers, is cooperating with the Public Service Commission's investigation, Arnold added.

As of April 26, the Public Service Commission was still reviewing "hundreds" of comments about NYSEG/RGE billing, and further action was pending, according to Denn.

Customers who have concerns about their utility service are encouraged to contact the Public Service Commission at www.dps.ny.gov/complaints or 1-800-342-3377.