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CUB saves consumer from $1,887 mistake

By Samantha Vercellino

Nobody likes to receive the monthly power bill, but that rings especially true for Kay Uhrin—whose April statement said she owed $2,230.54!

Stunned, the Rockford-area resident immediately called ComEd who claimed she had used 18,223 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in 29 days. (That’s more than triple her average monthly usage.)

After being notified it could take 30 days to fix, Kay visited CUB’s award-winning website and filed an online complaint with Sandra Marcelin-Reme—a 21-year veteran of the Consumer Advocacy Department.

“I made six calls to ComEd and couldn’t get anyone to listen,” Kay said. “But I quickly heard back from CUB after filing an online complaint.”

Sandra asked ComEd to review Kay’s past meter readings—and that revealed a big mistake:

While Kay had only used 3,897 kWh of electricity, she was being charged for an additional 14,329 kWh.

“There could be a number of reasons why a bill is this high,” Sandra said. “It’s best to immediately follow-up with your utility, and if you can’t get through or are questioning their response, give CUB a call.”

With CUB in her corner, Kay was rebilled the proper amount of $343.16—saving her $1,887.38.

“If it wasn’t for this organization, consumers would have no recourse to solve their problems.” Kay said.

If you have other questions regarding your utility, phone or cable service, call CUB’s Consumer Hotline, at 1-800-669-5556, or file an online complaint like Kay did, at www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org.