By Murray Bishoff
Managing Editor

Published March 05, 2002 4:00 PM CST

Overbilling corrected and credits to be placed on next two month's bills

Monett electric customers may see some refunds for the next two months.

Due to a clerical error confirmed only last month, residential and some commercial electric customers have been overbilled for part of the year since 2000. The extent of the problem has been diagnosed, said Utilities Superintendent Pete Rauch, and all overpayments will be credited back to customers in the next two months.

The size of refunds will depend on the amount of electricity used. In the first round of refunds, covering a five-month period, a residential customer living in an average sized home could see a credit around $10. A homeowner with a very large house using a great deal of electricity may see a credit of over $100.

At the end of 1999, the city switched over to the new AS400 master computer for city records, including utility billing. Daffron, the computer programmer hired to get the system on-line and maintain it, inserted the winter rates, as appropriate at the time, and everything got off to a smooth start.

In April 1999, the city had revised its electric rates, instituting a rate reduction at the same time higher water and sewer rates were put into effect, so that those two systems could run self-sufficiently, paid for by their own revenues rather than relying on electric profits to cover expenses. Like the old 1992 rates, the new 1999 rates also had a higher summer rate for peak use during the months of June to September, and a winter rate for the remaining months.

When it came time to switch to summer rates in 2000, the computer program was supposed to make the switch automatically. That didn't happen, it was discovered, and the rates were switched over manually by the next month. Customers paid winter rates for one month of summer, and no adjustments were made, giving an advantage to the customers.

When it came time to switch back to winter rates in November 2000, however, no change occurred. As a result, higher summer rates stayed in effect for another eight months, and weren't detected. By the summer of 2001, the rates were accurate again, and stayed in place.

The situation got even more confused when it came time to switch to winter rates last year. Due to another clerical error, the wrong rates were put into the computer. This time not only did summer rates get keyed in for the winter, but it was the higher 1992 summer rates. These stayed in the computer until it was discovered a month ago that something was amiss.

Even then the exact nature of the problem was unclear. Rauch said he first had an inkling something was wrong when several customers called with questions about the bills they got for electricity used in December. A brief cold spell forgotten by the time bills arrive often raises questions, especially during an unusually warm winter like the present season.

Still, the question remained. Cheryl Cox, the former billing clerk now working as assistant collector since the AS400 went on line, raised the possibility that the wrong rates may have been keyed into the computer. Following that lead confirmed the problem. "That was part of her old job," Rauch said. "I certainly appreciate her bringing it to our attention."

The problem was caught in time to send out accurate bills to customers last month. Bills being mailed this month will have a credit for electricity used from last August through December. The first two months, reflecting a difference between summer 1992 rates and summer 1999 rates, will have only a slight credit in general. The last three months will summer 1992 rates where winter 1999 rates should have been, and the difference will be much more.

The rest of the billing mistakes were not fully discovered until Rauch spent the weekend recalculating bills, at which time he traced problems back to those mailed in November 2000. The second batch of credits will cover electric bills mailed from November 2000 to June 2001.

Daffron has been instructed to write a computer program to adjust all the bills in question. These include approximately 3,300 residential customers, and around 30 commercial customers who are on all-electric systems. General commercial electric rates have not changes since 1992. Those who are on all-electric systems have different summer and winter rates, and will see larger credits than residential customers. Industrial rates were not affected.

"I deeply regret this has happened," Rauch said. "It was done on my watch and I take full responsibility. I apologize for it. Measures have been put in place to see that it doesn't happen again."

Any time rates have been switched over in the past, it has been handled in billing. Paperwork on the change has not been brought to Rauch for his review except at his request. Now, the computer has been flagged to signal when a change of rates is to be made. The utilities superintendent will personally verify the numbers going into effect by signing off on the rate change.

Rauch added that in July 2000, when customers paid winter rates for an extra month when summer rates should have been in place, was for an average home user about a $10 deduction on the bill. He felt that gift back to customers should cover in essence any interest considered due for extra money used by the city as a result of these problems. "All I want to see is that the problem is corrected, and the proper credits are given out," he said.

Monett Times

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2002