Hey all,
Some of you are much better versed in the laws and rules regarding utility companies than I am, so I was wondering if someone could help me understand what's going on with my electric provider.
I recently moved away from Columbus to Canton for work, and I signed up for electric service through AEP. I've had two months worth of bills so far, no big deal. After work today, I came home to a letter in the mail from AEP letting me know that they were aware of my requested switch to FirstEnergy as my electric provider, and they told me I had until 5pm yesterday to cancel the change. My deadline to cancel the change was the day before I got the letter acknowledging my request to switch, a request that I never made.
I called AEP, and the lady on the phone was very nice but ultimately unable to do much more than give me some clues about what might have happened. Most of what she told me raised more questions than answers, and I got the distinct vibe from her that she either knew something she wasn't telling me, or at the very least she was under strict instructions not to stray from a particular set of scripted answers.
1) She told me the effective date of the change in her computer showed as August 16th. We signed the lease for our apartment on the 13th and established an AEP account on the 15th. Despite getting 2 months of bills without anyone mentioning this change, we supposedly "requested" a change to FirstEnergy the day after we signed up with AEP.
2) She said that FirstEnergy sent out a letter indicating that we would be automatically switched to FirstEnergy unless we responded to tell them that wasn't what we wanted. I pointed out that we definitely had not gotten that letter, and it very likely would have been sent prior to us renting the apartment, which sat vacant for a few months before we took control in August. She said the address was what was important, not the resident. This makes no sense to me.
3) She indicated that AEP's rate hike may have automatically triggered some sort of change, and that callers seemed to think they would be getting a 5% discount because of the switch. She had no information on FirstEnergy's rates. She really seemed interested in explaining how energy deregulation in Ohio works, but she didn't want to relate how competing energy providers had anything to do with my automatic switch from one to the other.
I honestly have no idea what happened here. The lady from AEP was nice, but ultimately unable to tell me what really happened. She referred me to FirstEnergy or PUCO, both of whom have normal 8-5 hours so I couldn't call to ask any questions.
So here's my question:
What the hell is going on?
There is information missing from this story, and AEP Lady either didn't have it or wouldn't give it to me. Surely it can't be legal to automatically switch someone's electricity provider on their behalf prior to them signing up to live there? Can anyone shed light on what this all means? I don't owe any allegiance to AEP so I don't really care who provides my electric, but this feels fishy.




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