Sadly, this is another rant about the rip-offs from Consolidated Edison, as seen in my recent electricity & gas bill.
On July 6, ConEd mailed me an invoice for my monthly charges = $158.22. That might seem high (depending on where you live in the world), but be assured that I reduced my electricity usage from last year by half! During this COVID pandemic, I have been unemployed, and Lewis and I strove to be thrifty. Unlike other American households (with superfluous lightbulbs/accent lights/mood lighting, and multiple entertainment gadgets activated simultaneously), we are mindful and not wasteful of energy. Nonetheless, on July 7, ConEd mailed an amended invoice, billing me for an additional $42.00... without any noticeable reason.
Being a savvy consumer, I don't pay for things that I don't understand. (I also don't buy $6 cupcakes just because everybody else does). It's another reason that I don't use monthly auto-pay, because I prefer to double-check before paying. Navigating ConEd's unhelpful telephone directory prompt-system, I finally got transferred to their (hidden) Customer Service Department. Despite ConEd's gargantuan profits, it doesn't have enough Customer Service Agents, so I waited 15 minutes to speak with someone. I was polite, but the man didn't want to help me and hung up while I was talking. Dialing again, I waited another 10 minutes and finally spoke to someone who wanted to do their job... almost.
I was informed that ConEd realized that their meter in my apartment building was outdated and malfunctioning, so they recently installed a new one. They determined that I was undercharged for my electricity since February. So, they wanted that back-owed amount. I was flabbergasted. I gave the metaphor that if I bought something in a store, paid, and left, it was improper for the merchant to say, "Oh, that price was incorrect, so please come back and pay me extra". The Customer Service associate's script made her say "I'm sorry", yet she wasn't. She didn't care; ConEd demanded that money. She had the gall to say, "Be thankful that we're not charging you late fees for that amount." I was angered! But I had no option.
It is despicable that during this pandemic and economic downturn, such gluttonous conglomerates are penny-pinching their customers. Naturally, that happens in New York City: the unruly epicenter of American capitalism. I also realized that the timeframe of back-owed amount coincided with when I reduced my electricity intake further, in March.
Years ago, a similar thing occurred when I downsized my electrical usage for several months. ConEd billed me for a sudden extra amount, claiming it was a one-time surcharge for "providing the electricity". Another time, they billed an extra amount claiming it was an "adjustment for miscellaneous costs from October to May for the effect of variation from normal weather". What is that? It's just like a mafia racketeering scheme. They won't let you get away with paying them for using less electricity/gas.
Scrutinizing my bill further didn't help. It is outrageous to see what they charge money for, and how they price-gouge their customers (since they are a power utility monopoly).
Before that additional $42.00, my monthly electrical charges were $47. ConEd billed me an additional $1.50 of Supply Charges for "procuring that electricity and sustaining their Credit/Collections team". What does that mean? An amount of $1.18 was for "taxes on their gross receipts from sales of utilities". Then, I was billed $16 as a Basic Service Charge "to maintain their infrastructure" (which has explosions several times each year). Next, I was billed for $52.04 as "a charge for maintaining the system through which Con Edison delivers electricity to you". Wasn't that covered in the other part? When I asked what that fee specifically signified, the Customer Service team could not identify specifics; the fee merely went to an amalgamation of ConEd's costs. A supervisor was not forthcoming with any more data. It seems like that extra cost is bogus. The charges for maintaining their substandard system were more than my electricity usage, and it tripled my monthly cost!
The next month, that "charge for maintaining the system through which Con Edison delivers electricity to you" ballooned from $52 to $102! That was like highway robbery! They can hike up the price to whatever amount they want. Recently they added $100 for no reason, yet we were required to pay that extra $100. That's what you get in overpriced NYC America. I suppose that whenever ConEd's greedy negligence gets pinpointed for power outages, blackouts, transformer fires, oil leaks, or gas pipe eruptions, they pass those costs to their overpaying customers. It's utter nonsense. But there's more.
The next month, that "charge for maintaining the system through which Con Edison delivers electricity to you" ballooned from $52 to $102! That was like highway robbery! They can hike up the price to whatever amount they want. Recently they added $100 for no reason, yet we were required to pay that extra $100. That's what you get in overpriced NYC America. I suppose that whenever ConEd's greedy negligence gets pinpointed for power outages, blackouts, transformer fires, oil leaks, or gas pipe eruptions, they pass those costs to their overpaying customers. It's utter nonsense. But there's more.
My monthly gas usage equalled only $1.98. However, taxes and surcharges totaled $3.54. Another hidden fee of $0.11 was for a System Benefit Charge to "recover costs associated with energy efficiency programs by the company and New York State Research & Development Authority". What is that? (If you add up $0.11 from 8.5 million customers, you get $935,000 per month! Whose pocket does that go in? The company is like a plaything to make money.) Finally, sales tax added $5.57 on top of it. Thus, the surcharges amount to more than my actual gas usage!
Apathetic New Yorkers--who passively overpay for rent, frappuccinos, and parking--will pay it until infinity. Lewis and I are making Life Changes and will be glad when we interact with companies that have integrity. A wise person once said, "If you don't make plans for your life, then other people will... and guess what? They don't have great plans for you."
*Due to unchanged greed, history repeats itself in NYC. To see how I previously handled an unannounced surge in my cable television & internet bill, please use this link:
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