I am writing as a result of recent news coverage concerning Hydro One and, in particular, issues with our customer billing system and the impact it is having on some of our customers.?First and foremost, I would like to apologize to our customers who are experiencing billing and customer-service issues. As the leader of Hydro One, I am directly accountable for customer service and I promise you that I will focus our resources on not only fixing these problems, but on changing our customer-service culture.
Last May, Hydro One transitioned to a new billing system. Our old system was outdated, not working well and it was determined that a change was needed. While the new system did correct some existing issues, the unanticipated result was that some customers experienced prolonged estimated bills, delayed bills, multiple bills or no bills at all. Customers calling the call centre have also experienced a lower level of service as agents have struggled with the new system. Escalated complaints are sometimes taking months to resolve.
Clearly, this is not the level of service people deserve from Ontario’s electricity-delivery company and it is not the level of service we aim to deliver. I have focused every available resource on resolving these issues. A dedicated team is already working to fix the problems as quickly as possible.
The last thing I want is for our customers to worry. They deserve bills that are clear, timely and accurate. So, I want your readers — our customers — to know that they will only pay for the electricity they use. If they receive a catch-up bill because they have been billed on estimates or have not received a bill, we will work with them to arrange a reasonable payment plan. If we have made a mistake on a bill, we will not charge interest and we will not apply service charges or fees. If we find that we have overbilled an account, we will notify our customers and offer them a refund cheque.
We are improving training at our call centre to make sure our agents have the information they need to answer more of your questions on the first call.
I also pledge to keep you informed on the company’s efforts to transform our customer-service culture. We know our customers are counting on us and we owe it to them to make sure that we learn from this and that we do better.
Carmine Marcello President and CEO, Hydro One
