More CenterPoint bs in other states, this time in Minnesota:

https://www.centerpointenergy.com/en-us/Documents/MN-2023-Rate-Case-Interim-Rate%20BI.pdf

The next 2 posts describe a situation that my family went thru 2 months ago, that was entirely the result of CenterPoint's off the charts incompetence.       

           Re: Re: THE LARGEST POLITICAL RALLY IN N.J. HISTORY            

                By metmike - May 15, 2024, 6:36 p.m.                        

Thanks, Jean

wish I could show charts but CenterPoint energy  killed shut off our power.

their notice to warn me of this came via email with the bill due on May 31st that arrived  over 1 hour after they killed the power.

We have NOT taken out the April highs yet but that looks likely.

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                By 12345 - May 15, 2024, 3:18 p.m.                        

MIKE... DOES A C-PAP CONSTITUTE AS AN EMERGENCY, LIKE AN OXYGEN PRODUCER DOES?  IF SOOOOOOOOO... AND, YOUR ELECTRIC PROVIDER IS AWARE OF IT... THERE IS A WAY TO GET EMERGENCY ELECTRICITY.

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  By metmike - May 15, 2024, 6:27 p.m.                        

Jean,

The first 5 people I pleaded with told me, there's nothing they can do.

The last person, after 5pm told me it was an emergency and if only I had spoken to her an hour earlier. She could have called the doctor, got it verified and had our power turned on.

It was turned on finally today just before noon. Deb, who got no sleep last night has been sleeping all afternoon.

I called CenterPoint again today 3 times and got 3 different answers with my questions. I asked to talk to a supervision............sorry no supervisors. I asked for a contact to file a complaint............sorry we don't have that. The only thing that you can do is respond to the 5 question survey after this call.

So I answered the lowest number to all the questions but some were about the last person that I spoke with who didn't do any of the damage.

They allowed for time at the end to elaborate verbally. Boy did I have a lot to say. But I was cut off after 10 seconds. That's all they allow for comments!

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1 of them today said that a person has to come out to turn the power on and should have left a notice.  I was told that a couple of times yesterday too.

Turns out that nobody came out. Another wrong response. They just flipped a switch to turn it off yesterday and flipped a switch to turn it on today. They could have turned it back on yesterday afternoon too.

I'm furious about what they did to us but am leaving early tomorrow for a 17 hour drive and am getting everything ready.

My wife was furious with me for letting it happen by not having the money taken out of our account automatically.

I told her I wanted to see their bill and the water bill before paying it and not get into the complacent habit of not looking which would allow for mistakes or changes to go not noticed.

It would have prevented this for sure but I shouldn't have to do it that way to cover for their incompetence.

When we get back next week, I'll probably be over it and decide to not waste anymore time on this horrible company, other than maybe fighting to get the charge to turn the service back on.  Based on responses so far, it might be a waste of time.                        

          Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: THE LARGEST POLITICAL RALLY IN N.J. HISTORY            

                By metmike - May 14, 2024, 9:32 p.m.            

Thanks, Jean.

doesn’t look like I can get it.

i tried out the Epoch times for numerous months a few years ago. They had some good stuff but they also had some very extreme conspiracy theory type nonsense, so I dropped them.

The power company, Centerpoint shut off our power early today Without a warning even though I paid the last 2 months.

for some reason the money didn’t go thru because of something they did.

pthe first 3 times that I called, they said it was a power outage. I was baffled that the neighbors had power and finally insisted on more information/details.

they transferred me to another lady who said the powers was turned off becaise we didn’t pay the bill.

I kid you not that I made 12 more calls after  that to pay the bill. They kept giving me the wrong info.

the computer wouldn’t accept the $434.34 addional  amount that we needed to pay for security deposits and extra fees, on top the bill.

one time, I got transferred to the Houston local officr that claimed Centerpoint didn’t serve my city of Evansville so they couldn’t help me.

Centerpoint stinks!!!,

I would do anything to use another company but it’s a monopoly.

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                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: THE LARGEST POLITICAL RALLY IN N.J. HISTORY            

                By 12345 - May 14, 2024, 9:41 p.m.            

CENTERPOINT... HOW BIZARRE!

DID YOU CHECK THEIR WEBSITE?  I SEE THEY'VE GOT CHANGES IN ACCOUNTS, COMIN' UP

https://www.centerpointenergy.com/en-us/residential?sa=in

       +++++++++++++++++++++                           

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: THE LARGEST POLITICAL RALLY IN N.J. HISTORY            

                By metmike - May 14, 2024, 10:30 p.m.            

After all that and 6 hours of trying to do something that should have just taken just  1 phone call to resolve they told me its too late to turn on the power today and they would turn it back on tomorrow, sometime before 4pm.

My wife needs a CPAP machine when she sleeps to keep breathing regular and to keep her oxygen up.

I told them that from the get go…… but heard back…..sorry, nothing we can do.

told it to 5 more people as I continued to try to get the bill paid and then give the information to another department that turns the power back on but each time it was…..sorry nothing we can do.

when I told it to the last lady, she says ”you should have told us that an hour ago. We could have called her doctors office to verify she needs it and had the power turned on immediately as an emergency but it’s too late now”

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                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: THE LARGEST POLITICAL RALLY IN N.J. HISTORY            

                By 12345 - May 14, 2024, 11:17 p.m.            

WOWWWWWWWWWW

THERE HAS GOT TO BE A (AS MUCH AS I HATE TO "SAY" IT)... PIECE OF GOVERNMENT THAT YOU CAN CONTACT OVER THAT!!!  I'D BE SWITCHING COMPANIES & WRITING TO NEWSPAPERS ~ ANYONE, JUST TO GET THE WORD OUT.

ARE YOU ALLOWED TO GET YOUR POWER FROM WHEREVER YOU WANT IT FROM? IN OHIO, WE CAN.

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                       Re: THE LARGEST POLITICAL RALLY IN N.J. HISTORY           

                By metmike - May 14, 2024, 11:36 p.m.                        

the most frustrating part is that each time that I called back and told them, hi this is Mike Maguire and this is the 7th time I called today, 8th time, 9th time and so on they would say, I’m sorry but we don’t have any record of previous calls on this account today.

I gave them the name and times. Sorry but we have a lot of people that work here but there isnt anything  on this account today.

A couple of them said: maybe you should just pay the rest of the bill in person.

Their computer took most of it, why wouldn’t it take the rest of my money???

Finally, the 15th person that I talked to after 6 hours. Figured it out. No kidding, 15 dang people and 6 hours to get it figured out.

The account has our land line phone number associated with it  and even though I was telling them and the computer that number, they were recording it under the cell phone number that I was calling from because I couldn’t use the landline that they killed the power to. Where it was going….who knows but all my calls were NOT being filed with our account. At least that’s what they kept saying.

So she added the cell phone number to the account.

If I’d talked with this lady 6 hours earlier, we would have power right now.

on the 3rd call, the guy had the audacity to lie and say that it’s a power outage and was reported at 11:25 am. that they are working on it but there are a lot of other people without power in our area.

the internet showed 1 outage with 6 people impacted in this county I told him. He said that those maps are often wrong.

What is the matter with people??

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                Re: Re: THE LARGEST POLITICAL RALLY IN N.J. HISTORY            

                            By metmike - May 14, 2024, 11:54 p.m.          

thanks, Jean!
sorry for the non productive post And thanks for listening.

No, we can’t pick another energy delivery company.

When there’s no competition, you don’t need to be competent,apparently.

My brother in law just died suddenly and I dont want to waste more time on this other than to unload on the forum about how lousy the service is for Centerpoint Energy in Evansville Indiana.

If I thought I could help them to fix it or do better, it might be worth some time but there were too many incompetent people in one afternoon that made so many mistakes that its not something that 1 complaint is going to help with.

Rates and Tariffs for Indiana

The following is a complete description of CenterPoint Energy's current rates and tariffs for Indiana.

https://www.centerpointenergy.com/en-us/corporate/about-us/rates-tariffs/indiana

 - See more at: https://www.centerpointenergy.com/en-us/corporate/about-us/rates-tariffs/indiana#sthash.EOL3YkVK.dpuf

Who is involved in the regulatory process? 

CenterPoint Energy's utilities are regulated by state agencies. The commission agencies are the governing bodies over utility services that approve all rates and tariffs. CenterPoint Energy cannot adjust its rates without approval from these agencies. These agencies work to maximize efficiency for the benefit of all parties. CenterPoint Energy in Indiana is regulated by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC).

The Indiana Office of the Utility Consumers' Counsel (OUCC) is the consumer advocate agency that acts to protect consumer rights.

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Crystal clearly the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is NOT doing its job. Are they corrupt or incompetent?

Centerpoint Energy's stock price is 6 times higher than it was 20 years ago.

Investors and the company are making massive amounts of money..........AT THE EXPENSE OF CONSUMERS!!!!!

While the regulating bodies look the other way!

CenterPoint Energy - 54 Year Stock Price History

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CNP/centerpoint-energy/stock-price-history

Consumers are RISING UP!!!

Consumer advocates: CenterPoint rate increase unfair to residents, favors industrial companies

https://indianapublicmedia.org/news/consumer-advocates-centerpoint-rate-increase-unfair-to-residents-favors-industrial-companies.php

             More than 300 residents attended a hearing about CenterPoint Energy's rate increase in Evansville in February.                             (Tim Jagielo/WNIN)             

Residents with CenterPoint Energy already pay more than any other investor-owned utility in the state, according to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission's annual report.

Evansville City Council President Zac Heronemus said about half of the city’s residents are struggling to make ends meet and higher energy bills disproportionately affect them.

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Commission Reports

https://www.in.gov/iurc/commission-reports/

Commission Reports

https://www.in.gov/iurc/commission-reports/

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The higher the ranking is below, the HIGHER the price is compared to other states. IN should actually be one of the lower priced states considering it's favorable location/dynamics for cheap prices.......NOT one of the most expensive!

https://www.in.gov/iurc/files/IURC-Annual-Report,-2023.pdf

These are the graphs that BUST CenterPoint!!!!

There are 5 energy providers in Indiana. 

Indiana Michigan Power has always been the cheapest by a wide margin.

3 of the other 4 have been passing along the REALLY CHEAP NATURAL GAS MARKET COST TO PURCHASE SUPPLIES shown at the top of this thread with natural gas prices near $2 and close to the cheapest in the last 25 years.

BUT NOT CENTERPOINT!!! (in yellow)  Which has actually been INCREASING RATES to MUCH higher than all the other energy delivery companies in Indiana that have the exact same market conditions!

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The bar graph below shows that over half of their cost is the commodity cost...........which, again is almost the lowest in 25 years and MUCH lower recently. WHY IS THIS MUCH LOWER COST NOT BEING PASSED ALONG TO CONSUMERS?

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HERE IS THE COMMODITY COST FOR NATURAL GAS AGAIN:

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/natural-gas

1. 35 year price chart

2. 5 year price chart

CenterPoint's incompetence and bad pricing extends beyond just Indiana:

Houston residents file $100 million class-action petition against CenterPoint over prolonged Hurricane Beryl power outages

The lawsuit, filed by a firm that includes the son of Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, is the second class-action petition filed this week against CenterPoint. A group of restaurants impacted by extended power outages also filed suit.

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/hurricane/2024/07/19/494152/houston-residents-file-100-million-class-action-petition-against-centerpoint-over-prolonged-hurricane-beryl-power-outages/

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CenterPoint draws state ire after Hurricane Beryl power outages. Here’s what you need to know.                  

        Following Hurricane Beryl’s large-scale power outages, state officials launched an investigation and legislative hearings to scrutinize CenterPoint’s response after the storm.    

  https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/25/texas-power-grid-puc-centerpoint-hurricane-beryl/

The issue at the top is exactly the one that I pointed out 2 months ago after my family's horrible experience because they turned off our power, with me NOT getting useful assistance from over a dozen phones calls. The initial ones could have easily resolved the problem BEFORE they cut us off if the person on the other end:

1. Told the truth

2. Knew their job and if not, sent me to somebody that did who could help.

3. Just a catastrophic failure in customer service from contact, after contact after contact in a manner that I can't remember experiencing in my life with any business. 

4. CenterPoint needs a complete overhaul in management, training of employees and in the way they conduct purchasing (do hedging for future supplies) and  pricing.  Frankly, I think they should be bought out by a company that already knows how to do these things successfully and can implement the needed changes  because the people in charge  right now at CenterPoint are clueless. 

Adding to this mess, CenterPoint did an overhaul of their system (to make it even worse for consumers) this month.

I normally get the bill via email around the 13th of the month.

No bill this month. 

On the 18th, I went to their site to see and pay the bill, which has always been due on the 1st of the next month.

I couldn't get in because they went to a new system that required EVERY user to sign up all over again and pick new sign in information.

No problem, right?

After 5 unsuccessful attempts, I decided to call somebody on the phone to help me. Waiting time over an hour.

OK, I'll just finish when I get back from Detroit next week, knowing the bill isn't due until August 1st.

Then my wife, Deb called yesterday because she noticed the bill hadn't come out of the checking account and they disconnected us 2 months ago because it was slightly late(from their fault).

OK, I decided to do it right away to not take any chances with CenterPoint botching things up left and right and every which way

Tried to register again.........no luck.

So I called again, this time a 51 minute wait according to the phone message. 

While waiting, I tried 2 more times and YIPPEE!  I finally got registered.

WOW! They moved up our due date from the 1st of next month to the 29th of this month WITH NO NOTIFICATION TO US in any way shape or form and with us being unable to even get the latest bill!

If I had waited until the 30th, we would have had to pay a late fee and knowing them possibly be subjected to another shut off of services.

One of their other changes,  is that now, if you use a credit card they charge you a $2.50 transaction fee. 

Of course they would do this. They are in the Hall of Fame for being a consumer UNfriendly organization!

So I decided to pay the extra charge and additionally, sign up to automatically take the amount of money out of our checking account, every month with trepidation that they will make a mistake in that realm too!

I really don’t like the idea of authorizing Centerpoint to do anything automatically with our money,like we’ve done with every other bill/company that charges us on a regular schedule!

Natural gas prices the cheapest for August since 1995!

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/106573/#106989

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/106573/#106996