The first in a series of public forums regarding billing problems at Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) and New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) is scheduled for this week. Both utilities are owned by Avangrid.
The forums have been scheduled by state regulators, in an effort to give the public a chance to comment on issues involving things like billing, meter reading, and other customer service issues.
The New York State Department of Public Service regularly tracks complaints and said that its staff saw a significant increase in those complaints last year. The state agency said that the problems were compounded by the inability of customers to reach the utilities customer service representatives by telephone “without substantial delay.”
In order to hear directly from customers, the state is holding both virtual and in-person forums.
The first events are scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 31, with virtual forums set for 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Then, there will be in-person forums in Rochester next week, on Tuesday, February 7, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Rochester City Hall.
RG&E and NYSEG officials recently said that they’ve made significant improvements to their customer service operation, which they say is improving their billing situation. That includes hiring dozens of additional customer service representatives.
You can get more information about the upcoming forums at the New York State Department of Public Service website.
