LAKE WYLIE, S.C. — As Duke Energy develops its still fairly new solar power billing process, the utility is pledging to do a better job communicating when the company makes billing mistakes. The promise comes after Duke Energy overcharged Doug Wolfe -- and others -- twice in the last year.
The issues revolve around Duke Energy's monthly minimum billing practice for solar customers.
A matter of trust
"It's hard to trust them at this point," Wolfe said outside his Lake Wylie home. "I don't have words for how I feel about the walls that Duke Energy has put up between them and their customers."
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He installed solar panels in early 2023 in an effort to save money, help the environment and store some of the electricity he generates. Wolfe said he's losing faith in Duke Energy, not just because of billing errors, but also the way in which the utility responded when he raised questions.
"They just kept saying, 'Everything's right. Not a problem,'" Wolfe said. "It was completely frustrating. It was totally frustrating."
Minimum billing math
Solar customers who don't use that much electricity are billed a minimum monthly charge of $30, but if they produce more energy than they use, the power company's own policy requires them to subtract that amount from customers' bills.
For a few months last year, though, the math just didn't add up.
During April, May and June, Duke Energy failed to credit Wolfe as required. As a result, he paid $12 too much.
When Wolfe reached out to Duke Energy with concerns after discovering the billing inconsistencies earlier this year, he said the company repeatedly dismissed him.
"I don't raise questions; I go with facts," he said. "If they're the only choice [for power], I'd expect them to do better."
Asking for help
Wolfe reached out to WCNC Charlotte in March, seeking assistance with his Duke Energy dispute. In response to WCNC Charlotte's questions, the power company acknowledged the problem and shared that the issue actually impacted about 800 customers in all; the equivalent of more than a third of it solar customers in South Carolina who rely on this type of billing process.
However, the power company said the problem was corrected long before Wolfe noticed it.
Spokesperson Meghan Miles said, in response to the errors, Duke Energy adjusted future bills accordingly. In Wolfe's case, she said there would have been a more than $29 charge for the months of July, August, and September.
"Combining the credits and debits would have resulted in an overall charge to Mr. Wolfe for $16.63," Miles said. "We opted not to inconvenience him any further and did not apply this charge to the bill."
Miles said Duke Energy also chose not to send back bills to the other affected customers. She said the company's corrections resulted in the utility eventually undercharging those impacted for their power.
However, the utility concedes it never delivered that message to Wolfe or other customers.
"We are here to help our customers. It's unfortunate that this customer had this experience and we apologize for that and we certainly have some opportunities to improve," Miles said. "We are investigating these issues, coming up with some lessons learned, so we can improve our processes moving forward, so our customers will have a better experience moving forward."
"Shouldn't it be standard operating policy, that if you find a mistake, to communicate that mistake when it happens to the customer?" WCNC Charlotte asked Miles.
"Yes, certainly," she replied. "The goal is for our bills to be accurate and to avoid confusion whenever possible."
Internal safeguards in place
Miles said Duke Energy routinely runs verification tests on bills for accuracy, understanding solar rates are complicated. In fact, she said, using that bill verification process, the utility recently identified another error that impacts an even smaller number of its South Carolina solar customers.
The issue is tied to monthly bills where both a critical peak event and minimum bill charge were in play. Those people will likely receive a small credit and clear communication.
"The estimated amount is less than $1 per month," Miles said. "Adjustments will be applied as appropriate to customers' accounts. This issue is expected to impact a small number of customers which will be a fraction of one percent out of the more than 568,000 residential customers served in the Duke Energy Carolinas South Carolina service area. When energy usage occurs during a critical peak event, the critical peak energy usage should be included with the on-peak energy for calculation of the minimum bill. We are working with impacted customers to share details about these billing changes and apologize for any confusion. We will continue to investigate these issues and capture lessons learned to improve our processes to help prevent billing inaccuracies moving forward."
A skeptical customer
After weeks of keeping Wolfe in the dark about his billing issue, Duke Energy has since talked to him directly.
"I'm happy that they finally admitted to their mistakes," Wolfe said. "I'm kind of upset it took this much effort to get them to do it, but I'm glad they finally are."
While the customer is grateful for the communication, he remains skeptical and urges others to remain vigilant too.
"I would say check your bills every month," Wolfe said. "You really have to get out the calculator. Definitely check your bill."
While the number of solar customers is expected to grow over time, just a fraction of Duke Energy's millions of customers rely on this specific minimum billing process. According to the company, fewer than 2,500 customers in North Carolina and South Carolina combined are billed through the residential solar choice rider.
Public records show the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff has received a handful of formal complaints related to this particular billing process.
"Based on the data provided, our investigation into those matters did not identify any errors in the STOU rate billing," SC Office of Regulatory Staff Public Information Officer Hank Page said.
According to Duke Energy, those customers did not experience the same issue as Wolfe.
Contact Nate Morabito at nmorabito@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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