Duke Energy

I have been a customer of Duke Power for quite some time now. Approximately three years ago, I was approved for their Equal Payment Plan. The amount I was to pay was $95.00 per month. At the time, I thought this amount was a little excessive due to the fact that my apartment was small. I also have no washer or dryer and I very rarely cooked, so the stove, which was to me a major appliance, was rarely used. I decided to accept the amount with the excuse that it was, more than likely, due to my less than perfect credit. Last year, I moved into a two-bedroom apartment and when transferring services, I was told the Equal Payment amount would be the same. I made my payment every month through their phone system and the amounts were always the same at $98.00 and some change (included was the $3.00 fee they charge for paying through the phone system). The only times I got a different amount was if I had skipped a month and was charged for two. I recall this only happened twice and the amounts were paid.

In March of this year, I moved into another apartment. I called Duke and informed them that I needed power in this new apartment by February 14th (which was when their power box at the new apartment would be disconnected) and that I needed the electricity at the old apartment cut off by March 25th (which was when the lease would be over). At this time, I was told that I needed to pay $138.00 in order to transfer the accounts. I did so. I had two accounts overlap during this time and I was aware that two bills would be sent out. Once I moved into the new apartment, I received a bill for this address for the amount of $19.00. I went online to make the March payment for the old apartment and found out that I had a balance of $425.00. Up to this point, I had only been using their automated phone system to check my balance and to make payment. I immediately called Duke and asked why I was being charged such an amount. I was told that the amount owed for the old apartment was transferred over to the new apartment's account. I completely understood this process, but once again I asked where the $400 extra came from if I had been paying my bills.

The first reason I received was that I owed a month from October of 2011 and that this amount was never settled. I did not have my bank info at the time, so I told the customer service rep that if in fact I owed October's bill, the amount owed for October and March would only be $190 to $200 ($95 for October and $95 for March). I explained that this was the amount I was to pay with the Equal Payment Plan. After I told her this, she went on to explain that I owed $400 and basically I needed to pay that to bring the account up to date. I thanked her for her help and proceeded to check my bank statement.

On May 12 of this year, I decided to register my new apartment's account on their online services. At this time, I tried paying $252 through their online services. I never received a confirmation number, so I thought my payment did not go through. I checked my email the next day to see if, maybe, it had and I just skipped a page when I made the payment. In my email, I found an email welcoming me to their online services and another email confirming my order for the energy saving bulbs. I found no email with a confirmation number for the payment I made. I went on to check my bank account and there was no transaction for this amount on there either. On May 22, which was the day my bill was due, I checked my bank account once more - still no payment had been posted or was even pending for Duke. I decided to go ahead and make the payment through the phone system. I made a payment on this day for $118.00, which was the amount the automated phone system required as a minimum payment at this time to avoid disconnection.

Today, March 24, I checked my bank account and find both payments have posted. I called Duke and explained to them the issue and the representative that answered informed me that on March 12 the web department was having issues and that I needed to speak with them about the lack of confirmation for that payment. She transferred me to that department and I proceeded to explain to a representative there the issue. I was told that there was nothing they could do, that the payment had processed, and that I should have checked for the confirmation of this payment. I explained several times that I got no confirmation by email, that the amount never posted on my bank account, and that their phone system did not have it as a payment processed either. The representative only proceeded to explain why I owed such an amount in the first place and ignored the fact that I was charged twice.

I understand this is more information than any usual complaint, but I do not know what to do about this issue. It seems to me that I have been taken advantage of from the beginning and this has escalated to a problem so confusing that even the customer service reps cannot explain why this is happening. I often find that they offer several methods of payments for the "convenience" of their customers, but often times each method has a different set of information or are not updated at the same time. I need advice. What options do I have to dispute any of this? I would appreciate any help provided.

I moved to Middletown in February 2010 and needed to get my electric turned on, but apparently, according to Duke, they said I had a previous balance from my previous address and this is my first complaint. I had called and told them the date I needed the electric shut off that I was moving out and no one would be living at the residence. I guess they took that as a cue to either leave the electric going or shut it off and say it was never disconnected, so I was facing a rather large electric bill of a few hundred dollars and no way to prove what had happened after I left. The next thing was through the holiday season, namely December of 2011. I put up no tree or decorations that year, yet my electric bill went from $292.97 in November to $501.00 using the same (or less) amount of electric with no extra or unnecessary lights left on. In fact, my son and I spent Christmas with family; therefore, the only explanation is that Duke averaged and then spread out the higher electric usage over a lot of families in this area.

The third problem I'm seeing are these riders on my electric bill which total more than triple of what my electric usage actually is. Meaning, it's extremely hard to keep these bills paid. These riders are the following: delivery rider at $16.35, generation riders at $7.45, and rider RC at $4.95; rider RE at $63.70, rider AERR at $.50, rider RECON at $.19, and rider SCR at $1.18. It's for a total of $94.32 when my total electric usage is $28.23 for 1,276 kWh. It just seems odd that we are paying for all these riders to "get it here" than we are paying for the electric alone and what's worse is that CG&E never had these on their bill nor does DP&L (according to family members). It seems odd that when Duke took over CG&E, I believe they also took over their sub-stations and power facilities as well. So, why are we paying for all these riders that are cloaked in abbreviations and mystery that no one knows what they mean? Why isn't Duke producing their own power like CG&E did?

I know people, including my family members, who have moved just to get out of Duke's range because of the electric bills. It's for certain. If I had solar "on the grid," I wouldn't be able to charge Duke these riders and yet they charge them to us. It's little wonder Duke has had lawsuits and so many complaints against them, but the bad thing is that I don't have the money to throw out to move out of their range as I'm sure most people don't. People here would never have to apply for HEAP or other assistance if their electric bills were lower as they should be. I think it's appalling that my electric bill counts for more of my wages than a car - maybe even a mortgage payment would. These electric bills are literally sinking me and are a big cause which is preventing me from being able to move to another, more affordable region outside of Duke's range.

On various occasions, I have received notices on the benefits of switching our power provider to Duke Energy Retail. I have ignored these notices due to the fact that I am satisfied with Duke Energy Ohio providing our power, etc., primarily because the latter company is regulated by the PUCO. But, yesterday, I answered a telephone call from an individual who wanted to convince me that Duke Energy Retail was the way to go - I wasn't only dissatisfied, I was actually perturbed by the tone of his voice, and the aggressiveness of the conversation. I don't believe that a customer should have to tolerate that manner of solicitation. Out of curiosity, I performed various web searches, and found out that "Duke" is a Fortune 500 company, and so, I understood why I was treated with disdain. But, I could not, however, successfully complain to a company that has separatism purposely within departments, so I chose other media to voice my feelings. Thank you.

Refusal by Duke Energy to fix their billing mistake - I received my bill which stated there was a $20 fee for a returned check from my previous payment. I was shocked, as I had plenty of money to cover the tiny $40 bill from the previous month. I checked with my bank just to make sure nothing happened, and saw there were absolutely no returned checks from my account.

I have never had a check returned in my life. Customer service doesn't have the authority to remove the charge from my account, so they say. Two people gave me two completely different possible reasons why it may have been returned, which it wasn't, because they never tried to cash it. So they are screwing a customer who has never made a late payment to them, and for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

After having a month of service at my address, Duke Energy disconnected my service due to the fact my ex-girlfriend and her mom have previous past due accounts and because I am associated with them. They told me I can never have services in my name until their accounts are paid in full, which together equals $2,500. I have never had any joint accounts with them and never resided in the homes where service I was past due.

I have filed a complaint with the BBB and also have looked into filing a class action lawsuit. I feel that we are all being railroaded by these people who by the way are very rude. We really need to band together and do something about this. I have read numerous complaints stating the same unfair practices, gorging light bills and many other complaints. We really need to take a stand against this.

Duke Energy employee Brandon told me that when I moved that my last bill from my old address would be taken out of deposit. Then I was sent an entire bill for both old and new addresses and was given 10 days to pay $300.00 or have the service disconnected. I was told by Brandon that the old bill would be taken out of the deposit and the remainder of the deposit would be sent to me. I was also told that because the new address had a new account number, the new address bill would be separate. All of this was recorded.

When I called the supervisor at DE, I was told that she would pull the recording. If that was what was said, DE would honor it. She called me back within an hour and confirmed everything that I told her was in fact on the recording, But DE would not honor it, as it was not normal practice. I am outraged at this, as she told me an hour earlier that Duke Energy would honor the agreement if the recording confirmed it; and it did!

Now, I have 10 days to pay $300.00 after just bearing the expense of moving, and DE still has my deposit! I intend to fill a formal complaint with BBB and will go as far as having out local TV station cover this story if necessary, in order to have DE honor what its employee told me 3 weeks ago! This is unfair for DE to allow things like this to affect its customers and not honor what their paid and trained employees are telling their customers. I cannot believe that this is normal practice for DE. But I am learning quickly that there is no code of conduct with Duke Energy and that apparently, any thing goes, because people must have electricity!

I would like someone from corporate to contact me please! It's ironic that on this very complaint form that this very statement is listed above. Please be accurate and fair in your comments. Remember, you are responsible for what you write

I made a call to customer service to report a power line hanging down in my backyard. I have two young children and two dogs. I explained to the representative that I needed someone to come out ASAP to fix this problem. I was told that they would send someone out, but all I got was a voice mail saying, and I quote, "This is Duke Energy and someone called about a power line down or blowing around. It's a cable wire." Then, they hung up. I had to call back a second time, only to be told that one of their people came out at 5:23 pm. I assured the rep that there had been no one from Duke Energy at my house. They sent another rep out and the first thing he said to me was, "Oh, you weren't kidding." I said I wasn't and someone said they came out here, but they did not. He then says, "We went to the wrong house." Now, someone please tell me: is that unprofessional or what? If I had gone by the voicemail I received, I could've quite possibly lost one or both of my children due to electrocution. I am a very upset customer and I would not recommend Duke Energy to anyone.

I just moved into my home about 2 months ago, and I started my new electric service there. I live in Indiana about 4 years ago and just recently moved back. When I moved back, I had to pay an electric bill from my previous address to get my new service started. I paid the bill and requested new service. I just noticed today that I had not received my first bill with the deposit amount on it.

I called Duke Energy, and they told me that they had been sending my bill to the old address and that i was in disconnected status and have until the 14th of May to pay a $400 bill. I am not employed at this time and have a weekly income from my unemployment. I am very upset for the simple fact that this was an error on their part, and when I requested to talk to a supervisor, she was very rude. Her name was Paris. I was told to pay half of the bill by the 14th and then call back in to make payment arrangements for the rest.

This is an outrage. i am now going to be behind on my bills, simply because the company made an error and I am being faulted for their error. I am really upset, and this has put me in a bind. If I had to waited longer to contact them, my lights would have been cut off due to their error. I don't think that they should be able to do people like this. And then when you call in to see what's going on, they make it seem like it was an error on your part. The supervisor was very rude, so I asked her where I could go to make a complaint; and she directed me to their website. Their website does not offer how to make a complaint there, so she just pretty much blew me off.

March 6th, my parents' accounts were closed by the bank due to fraudulent activity on their accounts. Later that afternoon, my father had a stroke and was admitted into the hospital. Speech was impaired so he could not communicate with creditors.

My mother went to the bank once my father had stabilized to check on bills payments. When she discovered the usual March 3rd Duke Energy draft had not cleared, she called Duke Customer Service to arrange payment. Duke customer service told her she couldn't pay by check because the account was on draft. She explained the account associated with the draft had to be closed because of fraudulent activity and asked to pay by check. My mother insisted and requested the bill amount and mailed a check for the full amount and mailed it to the Duke Energy address given to her by the customer service representative. Less than 3 days later, she received a bill with a $20 returned check fee.

The bank drafted a letter explaining the reason for the returned check, explaining it was beyond their control. Acting for my parents, at my father's request, I called customer service asking for a fax number and/or address to send the letter requesting Duke Energy to forgive the $20 return check fee. I was told not to bother because Duke would not reverse the charge. I insisted and finally, after lots of resistance, I was given a fax number and was told to send to the attention of "Juillerma."

After a week of no response of communication, at my father's request and with him by my side, I again called Duke Energy to follow up regarding the return check fee on the blocked draft. I was told the request had been denied. I asked to talk with a supervisor. After a long time on hold, a supervisor (name available by request) came on the line. He told me that it was a state law that Duke Energy could not reverse the $20 return check fee. I questioned the validity of that statement explaining Piedmont Gas (another utility) did not charge a return check fee on the blocked draft. He accused me of saying what he told me was a "lie". I corrected him and he did apologize for his comment. I asked to talk to his supervisor and he told me he didn't have a supervisor.

Finally, I told him I expected a call from his supervisor or a representative would help me. With the next hour, I received a call from a Duke representative (name available by request) who told me that Duke would not reverse the charge. I asked for follow up information to verify if the letter I faxed was received and if so, who read the letter and their decision. She told me I could only get the information. After further wrangling and discussion, I asked her again if she had the information regarding the decision and she confirmed she did. After more resistance, she finally read the decision to me and told me how I could respond (by mail to Customer Affairs).

I asked that Customer Affairs call my parents and she said "It is not customary for them to call customers." However, in the information she read to me, she said CA attempted to call, no answer and no voice mail. I pointed out that obviously, they do call and may have called the wrong number because my parents do have voice mail. No voice mail was received and in reviewing the received call log, no Duke Energy numbers appeared before March 29th, the day of these conversations.

My request is my parents to be given the opportunity to speak with a Customer Affairs representative to discuss the situation beyond their control and my mother's efforts to pay the bill as quickly as possible. It must also be noted, my parents have had one late pay since 1960's, it was in 1999 when my father suffered a TIA and was unable to communicate or handle his business affairs.

As the daughter standing by, I am shocked, offended and disgusted with Duke Energy's business practices and complete disregard for good customers in unreasonable circumstances. Every other creditor in the same situation reversed all charges and added interest fees without the need for a letter from the bank. Regardless of how Duke Energy customer services represents, monopolies are not autonomous. On behalf of my parents, I will pursue this through to the NC Utilities Commission until satisfaction and resolution.

I moved out my house to take care of my mother who has a stroke. My daughter lived in Charlotte, NC. I told her to change the lights to her name. About a month later, I get a bill stating I had service on without Duke Energy knowing about it. I called and told them when to turn service off. I was told I didn't. My youngest daughter asked to move in the house. She was told she could not get service because she had to pay all the bills. I will pay my bill but I was also told I had to pay my daughter's, Eazell ** for Charlotte. That is not fair. All I had to pay was $493, Now it's $1,008.93. That is not fair. My daughter Tanesha has never had service before.

I changed energy providers at the beginning of 2012. According to the new providers, I was supposed to see my electric portion of my bill cut in half. Wrong! Once I made the switch, Duke Energy increased the "Generation Rider" on my bill. Instead of seeing a 50% decrease, I am actually paying more than I was when I was with Duke. Doesn't this seem crooked to anyone else? I have called Duke Energy and I was told that paying over $500 a month for a "Generation Rider" is completely normal. What?! I am angry. Can anyone do anything to stop Duke Energy from ripping people off?

I swear if I could rub 2 wooden sticks together to get electric services, I would instead of going through Duke Energy! I moved into my parents home during their separation (We'll call this House A) so their house wouldn't get foreclosed on. My step-mother never turned the lights off in her name when she moved out of "House A" and Duke allowed my husband to put lights on at "House A" in his name for us. Well, hubby moved from "House A" and called to have the services disconnected. One of our roommates then had services turned on in her name (all still under "House A"). When the roommate found her own place and moved out 3 months later, she had the services turned off in her name (still at "House A"). My sister who also lived at "House A" applied for services at here.

Well, Duke Energy decided since our old roommate, husband and step-mother all left the residence owing them a bill and they couldn't get off of their ** to find them, they tacked everyone's bill onto our address! When they found out I lived at "House A", they also tacked on my old bill to the house (I'm not disputing this because I lived there and it was a valid debt). By the time Duke Energy got done bending us over with no lube, we had to pay $1,545.95 (this included bills from 3 folks that no longer stayed at this address and had their own separate homes now). My sister and I were livid to say the least but we managed to come up with the money to have air/electricity because it was the summer and about 99 degrees at 12pm. Not to mention, I had a 2 year old in the home and 5 months pregnant!

I decided to move out of "House A" 7 months later into my own house (we'll call this "House B"). When I moved into "House B", my sister and father still remained residents of "House A". By the time I moved out, the Duke Energy bill at "House A" had gotten so high from my father and sister now being unemployed that the bill was $1,400.00! Sis and Father came up with a scheme to take the power out of her name and put it in his to start over fresh with a zero balance.

1 month into my services at my new residence at "House B", I get my first bill from Duke saying my charges for the month are $92 plus another charge of, you guessed it, $1,400 from "House A" because they couldn't find an active address for my sister! Needless to say, I've been on the phone with Duke Energy trying to get this mess straightened out and all they can "rudely" offer me is "Your sister added you to the account in 2011 as a roommate (without my knowledge might I add) and you didn't remove your name as a roommate before you started services at your new address so you're responsible for this bill!"

I've talked to 4 incompetent reps, 2 "I could give a **" supervisors and a department that makes decisions about your account but never have the balls to tell you this themselves over the phone so they note your account with what they feel and have the incompetent reps relay the message! Who does that!? Why must folks get strung along because Duke Energy is the only power company in this area? I still haven't gotten anywhere with Duke even after my sister has called them and advised them that she is still residing in "House A" and to put her $1,400 bill back at her house and remove it from my bill at "House B". Their response is "The bill is now in your father's name and we can't add the bill back to House A' without his consent!" Are they kidding me?! So you mean to tell me that I can owe them a bill, live with someone who doesn't owe them (but we're knowingly defrauding power from you by taking it out of my name and putting into theirs so we can start with a zero balance while I still live there).

I call to tell them that I've had a change of heart and I want to do things the right way so I tell you the truth as to where I live and where you can send my bill so I can pay you but they don't want my money and they want an innocent bystander with a 2 year old and 3 month old to carry my burden and be without power?! Duke Energy, you guys are world class **!

I'm not worried about their "Reversed Robin Hood" schemes because I have an appointment with my attorney in the morning to take their ** to court! I will not stop until Duke Energy gives its customers respect, show empathy and fire all of the losers they call employees and hire caring, customer service oriented individuals! Wish me luck on this lawsuit!

Duke Energy overcharged us for six years. I live in a very small home (1,300 square feet) near Faith and Granite Quarry. For years, I have called Duke about my bill and for years, they have blamed me and did nothing--which is not the case. A few days ago, I had an "onsite inspector" come to my home to try and determine what the cause of my high bills are. Keep in mind that this has been going on for six years now. He inspected every room and then he checked the fuse box outside. He went step by step, turning on circuit breakers to see what was the problem of these higher bills.

As he flipped the circuits, he noticed that the "old" meter "jump" and spin very fast . He told me in no uncertain terms that "it is the meter" and "nothing" in the household would cause the bill to be "not even half this amount." He did a worksheet, which included not only the insulation, but also the appliances--hot water, windows, heat pump, and many other areas. I called Duke after the inspection and they tell me to fax the form to a certain number. In the meantime, my bill is so high that it is scheduled for disconnection (I just cannot pay this high bill anymore) in about four or five days.

Duke called me on Friday and told me that someone will be out on Monday to check my meter. To me, this does not make any sense. First, they sent an independent inspector to check my home but found nothing that would cause my bill to be so high for six years. And now, they want to send someone from Duke to come out and check the meter even after the "inspector" says that it is not because of my home. He even wrote a report stating this. To me, that is like hiring a thief to work at a bank. I have documents (my bill) stating that "my home is using electricity more than any house in this area even though my house is half the size" and a graph stating the same.

I am hoping that you or anyone can help me. I have paid an average of $200.00 per month for six years. The inspector himself said that his home is more than twice the size but his bill is not as high as mine.

Duke Energy meter issues - I'm a new energy customer and have received exorbitant bills from the beginning of my service. My first bill, which reflected 18 days of service was $87. The most current bill is $147 for 28 days. I currently reside in a small rental home and we don't have anything in the home that requires much energy. Several times, I've contacted customer service to request for someone to check the meter and each request was denied. Duke instructed me to complete a self breaker test, which I completed and it showed high usage with the water heater and master bathroom on their meter. Then, they suggested I have a licensed electrician come out. I had a licensed electrician come out and conduct an amperage test and everything tested normal. However, their meter is showing extreme usage. I am confused as to why Duke is refusing to send someone out to assess their meter. I've followed every suggestion given by Duke but they refuse to do their part. Duke, do your part!

I have been with Duke Energy since I was 18 years old. I called Duke today, 3/20/2012, to ask for some extra time to pay my bill (8 days) that is due on 3/22/2012. I was informed they no longer do payment arrangements and that If I don't pay my bill, I will be disconnected on 3/23/2012. So I am screwed. They have taken out all the local offices, and there is no recourse for anyone anymore. She asked if I had any one with a health condition because that is the only way my bill could get an extension.

Today, I was on my computer studying and my service was turned off. Then I stopped studying and began to proceed to the Duke Energy website to pay my bill. No electricity. My past due was only $61.26. I have owed Duke Energy more than this amount and never was my service disconnected. I asked that the reconnect fee be removed. The representative said no. Why would you disconnect my service for only $61.26? Duke Energy has shown me where their loyalty is. In the dollar and not the consumer. Shame on you Duke Energy! Duke Energy, I want that reconnect fee removed.

I am filing a complaint against Duke Power of NC. I was granted approval for the North Carolina Low-Income Energy Programs (LIHEAP) for the amount of $367.59. I was granted this on February 8, 2012. I got a disconnection noticed telling me that my lights would be disconnected March 13, 2012 because they have not received the $367.59. I told them I was approved for the past due amount and had the approval letter from the program stating that I was approved and they would get the check in 4-6 weeks. I also told them I would be glad to fax them the approval letter if they needed proof of this. The customer service rep said it would not do me any good and I needed the Dept. of Social service to contact them. I called the Dept. of Social Service of Alamance County and talked with a Mrs. **. She said that she couldn't call but the letter was proof enough. She said that Duke Power of NC always works well with the program and knows the checks take time to be sent out.

I called Duke Power back and talked with the customer service number 2. She said it didn't make any difference to her about the program: they needed $367.59 paid by March 12 by 5:00 pm or my lights would be disconnected. I had to make a payment agreement and if I don't have $367.59 in their office by March 18, 2012 at 5:00 pm, my lights would be disconnected. I have an autistic child in the home and I feel like Duke Power and North Carolina Low-Income Energy Programs (LIHEAP) entered into a contract that Duke Power is not honoring. What am I to do if this check does not arrive at Duke Power? Why is Duke Power not honoring this program? I feel like I have been discriminated and abused by the system and Duke Power is the cause. They won't accept an approval letter that tells them they will get a check. They would rather come out to my home and disconnect my lights on me and my autistic child that does not understand what is going on. How can they do this?

My mother, who is 75 years old, recently moved into a new apartment, and the service was in someone else's name. I was sent to the Energy Protection Department. In order to get it put in her name, I had to send them the lease and picture ID. Because she had no gas and electricity, she also has no phone. I had to leave work for the man to talk to her to get the process started. They received the fax, but once again they need to speak to her, and see about getting the process scheduled for 24 hours later. I find this to be a mess. I sent you a lease, so they know that she is a tenant. The customer service was a very nasty, and my mother has been in the dark for 48 hours now. I requested for a manager to call me back.

I live in a 900 sq. ft. condo and my bills throughout the year are generally around $60 to $80. In January my bill was $263. In February my bill was $114. When queried, Duke Power will tell you that you've set your thermostat too high or, if I think my meter is incorrect, hire a private electrician to check my meter. In addition to having no accountability for their billing practices, the name on my bill is Lori. When I have called and complained that my name, the name on the check they are getting paid with, is Laura—in four years I have not been able to get this corrected. And finally, I have attempted to change my online account's email address from an old email to a newer email. I have attempted this several times and continue to get my ebills at my old email address and have been in jeopardy of paying my bill late because the notification is not being sent to the correct place and they have stopped mailing me a paper copy.

Two years in row, 2010 and 2011, the December bill is always almost double. Prior bills, and after bills return to normal. My question was, are you not reading the meter properly? The response I got from them was "get an electrician to check your home". I asked why other months are lower. They said "I do not know how to maintain my thermostat". I demand a credit of $300.00.

When I moved from my apartment of eight years and into my rental house September 1, 2011, I paid Duke Power $150.00 deposit, $380.00 for all past electric services and was told by a customer service that I had a zero balance and the only bill I would be receiving from the apartment on the amount we used of electricity would be for that one week the lights were left on for us to move our furniture. Now, come the first week in October I received my electric bill, and when I first see how high this bill was I became furious. The bill quoted a $397.32 past due amount and $63.00 for that week we kept the lights on for us to move, which came to $460.32. I get my electric bill online so I went to their website. They did not have some of my payments listed. I was being charged over again. I questioned the customer service representative and she just kept saying, "Do you need a payment agreement?"

I called the utility commissioner and try to explain that Duke Power was trying to charge me for a bill that has already been paid and all she said was, "Just pay your bill or your lights will be cut off." Since September 1, 2011 I have paid Duke Power $1,449.80 and this is only from September 1, 2011 through January 2012. Five months. There is no way this is right. I don't even have electric heat. I heat my home with natural gas. So I called Channel 2 News and I also reported Duke Power to the BBB. Low-income people are being targeted out by Duke Power and we are being severely overcharged. This is discrimination.

I called to explain my bill and why it's so high and they gave me some excuse that did not make any sense. I just paid $765.00 and I received another a week. They are later saying my bill is over $500.

October 3,

Gentlemen,

I have received this Saturday your invoice for the service from August 25 to September 26 for an amount of $49.48. I do not know how you can come up with such outrageous amount for that period. We were in Europe from September 12 to September 29 and absolutely everything was unplugged in our apartment: no TV, no decoder, no radio, no clocks, no recorders, no computers (and we have 4 of them) no printers, no chargers, no air conditioning, no ventilator and no electric range. Absolutely, everything was unplugged for safety and energy saving. The only thing running was the small fridge/freezer.

So I do not see nor understand how you can come up with such high bill (and when we are home we do not use air conditioning). An update as of February 1, 2012, And since this complaint our bill has been going higher and higher although we do not heat our apartment and we have replaced all our bulbs by low consumption ones from Duke! The Duke Energy meters and low consumption bulbs are a pure scam.

I've been on hold many times and been spoken to so rudely that I could have been fired if I had performed that poorly when I worked answering 911 at the CMPD ! I am on hospice due to SLE and Coronary Artery Disease which has led to three MI's, the last just occurring this past September. I hate to see the class that Duke employees are because I know this is a company that has to be paid, but it is a company whom we as a customer is a necessity also! If we as the consumer felt that we are put down then maybe there wouldn't be so complaints placed on this site! My doctor has filled out numerous forms and then when you're cut off in December! Why should these forms been given saying when foul. l lucked out, you still will be cut off!! This needs to stopped and they need to be a better company who cares for their consumers! They surely don't now!

Duke Energy has been billing me high electrical/gas usage. I was out of town from November 17, 2011 until December 28, 2011. I unenrolled from their customer choice program November 16, 2011, due to there was no savings involved, just high energy bills. When I returned to my place of residence, my bill was for $305.00! I have been in contact with the customer service department, PUCO, and the executive department of Duke Energy. The lady stated to me I must have not turned off my usage before I went out of town. I stated, ma'am, yes, I did. How can this be when I was out of town for 5 weeks? In addition, I decided to look at all of the meters (I reside in a 12-unit apartment complex) and noticed my meter reading was 22,000 kw.

However, the other meter readings were from 5,000 kw to 10,000 kw. I realize I am just a working consumer; however, I am a valuable consumer, for I have paid the full amount of fees every month. This has put me in an economically challenging position, for I cannot continue to pay this high bill. If Duke Energy is found at fault, can I receive credit for my bills? I have been paying high bills since April 2011. Whatever you can do to correct this situation will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I had Duke Energy and in 7/2011, any past due amount was paid off. I have the receipt from the portion in April they said I never paid. I also had a nonprofit organization pay the other half. In 8/2011, I moved, I order the shut off for 8/9/2011, they confirmed it. They never shut off the electric and it was on for over a month. They are telling me I owe them $268.00 and I do not owe this at all, they were paid in full and any balance remaining from the power not being shut off in a place I was not living and ordered the shut off is not my responsibility. They have harassed me and made threats.

Duke shut off my electric before I could get in touch with them and inform them I have two children living with me. I recently lost my job and my car. I have two children and I have no phone in order to contact Duke. They sent me a notice telling me how long I had to pay or I was getting disconnected. The day after I was supposed to get disconnected Duke came and shut my power off. I tried to have my dad call for me and they told him they didn't care whether I had children living in my home or not and that I needed to call them.

I can't very well call when I don't have a phone to call from. I had to give my kids to their dad. Now I don't get to see them as much as I want. But that's a whole other story in my life. But Duke turned off my power because I didn't have a phone to get a hold of them. I did send them an email, but I guess that wasn't good enough. So now I'm sitting here in the dark using free Wi-Fi to put in my complaint because I have no other means of communication. I have no active phone.

My contract with my apartment ended Dec. 31 and I terminated service or at least thought I had. I called today to check that the last bill I needed to pay for service from Dec. 9 - Jan. 11 (I didn't even contest that I would have to pay for the first 11 days of January!). I had been sent and was informed that it had not been recorded that I terminated service so I will have to pay for Jan. 11-17! I was then told that I needed to "check back" to make sure that the service was terminated. I am extremely upset that I am having to do things two or three times and "check back" to ensure that the customer service agent actually enters the termination into the system.

I called to get an extension on my bill because Monday will be a holiday and they informed me they did not care and hung up. I have 5 kids and now we are going to be in the dark .I hate Duke Power, their always rude and **. I wish there was another company so everyone could boycott their **.

One more thing. Last year I was going out of the county to visit in-law. No one was going to be at my apartment, so I unplugged everything. All lights out. I looked at my meter and it was stopped. I was gone for 35 days. When I got back home I had a bill for $55.00 and the lady at Duke said, "Sir, your every month's bill." They don't even read the meter, and then they send you light to save energy.

The company make you pay a processing fee of $3.50 every time you pay your bill. How can they charge you for paying your bill. So, can I charge my boss a processing fee for paying me at work? I have to take my money to the bank, this is not right.

The have sent me disconnect notices that arrived 4 days after the deadline! They just want to increase profits by screwing the poor with late fees and reconnect fees.

Duke power put a power bill on me, that had nothing to do with me. It belongs to my ex-husband. The power bill was $506.00. I live off my disability check of $1,118 a month, and then they told Rowan Ministries that they had me on the energy protection, and also tampering with a meter, and I do not mess with meters. I'm scared of them. Now, they are going to charge me another deposit. They have made my account valid, and I have 3 small children at home. Hello people, we need to get a attorney and file a civil lawsuit. What they are doing to people is not fair. They allowed someone to put my name on the power bill for the house, and I had nothing to do with it. How can they let someone use your name and info? It is not fair to me, and they tried to say because we are not divorced, I'm responsible for his bills. We have been separated for 20 years. What's up with that? Come on people, I have contacted Channel Nine News.

I had moved to a new location after I bought a new home and my bank account details were never transferred to the new account. This fact was never communicated to me. This resulted in my bills never being deducted from my bank and late charges accumulated. To my surprise, a disconnection notice. All this stress could have been avoided if Duke Energy had transferred my bank account information to the new address and this was never communicated to me in spite of this being saved in the online profile. Duke Energy is unfair advantage of its monopoly in power distribution in NC.

My electric bill in the amount of 319.38 (250.00 for deposit) was due on Nov. 7 2011. I paid the total amount at a Walmart payment center on Nov. 5, 2011. I understood that it would take a few days for the payment to be transferred to Duke Energy. But after 5 days, I noticed that my payment had not been posted to my account, so I had Walmart to track the payment. They found that the payment was transmitted to Duke energy on Nov. 7, 2011. When I contacted Duke energy, I was told that because Walmart was not a primary payment location that it would take up to 10 day for the payment to show up. Everyday I check to see whether the payment had been posted, and it had not. So I sent an email about the issue and I was told to fax a copy of my receipt, which I did and no sooner then I returned home. Tersa from Duke Energy called me to let me know that my payment was found and that she was sending it over so it can be posted to my account.

To make a longer story short, today is Nov. 29, 2011, and the payment has not been posted. 4 people has told me that they were sending the payment over to be posted. What's going on? Now my power is scheduled to be disconnected on Dec. 7, 2011. Who can I contact concerning this matter, because each time I talk with anyone at Duke Energy, I'm left feeling like I am being jerked around.

I am being charged for a bill that was put on my account from previous renters, or by landlord prior to me opening this account. I was told by a manager form Duke Energy that this was the landlord's request. Is that not illegal? I was told by a different employee that the bill was for 16 days of usage. So which is it?

On 10/17/11, I called Duke Energy to have my current service terminated on 10/31/11 and new service established on 10/18/11 at my new address. I was nearly finished with my request when the representative advised me that I would have to pay over $200 for a bill that was in someone else's name. After going back and forth on the issue with the representative and a supervisor, I was resigned to the fact that I would have to pay this bill for which I was not responsible in order to have service.

The bill now paid and service on at the new place, I mistakenly thought that my ordeal was over. Nope! I called today, 11/9/11, to ask when my final bill would be mailed, and to my surprise I was told that service was still on at the old location in my name. I advised that an error was made and that I had requested service to be terminated. Nothing was done. No resolution was given to me other than, "We will have it cut off on 11/10/11." That is not satisfactory to me as I know the apartment complex has been leaving the lights on in my former residence 24/7 and I haven't lived there since 10/17/11.

I requested the supervisor and the runaround began. It must be nice to have a monopoly on energy so that you can treat your customers any sort of way. I am one very unhappy NC resident looking to install solar panel on my home and buy a few generators to finally be rid of these crooks. A letter to the CEO and several others will be mailed today, certified!

Duke Energy technicians came to my residence to turn off my power, they were very rude and nasty to me. I told the technicians to just let me call and I would take care of the bill, but they cut the chain lock on my fence and mased my dogs while I was talking to them. They bullied me and smirked laugh on my face as they mased my dogs, mase got on my skin also. Is this how they conduct business now? There was not a word from corp.

On October 22, 2011, I began paying on a mobile home to own. After paying the owner of the mobile $950 and the land owner $550, I attempted to have the power switched to the new address. After talking with Duke Power, I was informed that they will not turn the power on because there was a bill on the new address from someone else of over $2,400. My bill has been paid but because of the person who lived there before, they won't turn the power on unless I pay for that person's bill. I have a child staying with us and need power. What can I do to get the power turned on?

Duke Power is making me responsible for someone else's bill. It is too much to type, but it is very similar to each of your stories. I am willing to file a class action suit against them because what they are doing is unethical. It does not matter if they are the only provider in the southern region, it does not give them the right to be unethical. Please, feel free to contact me and if nothing else, we can at least shrink them down to size even if we get no money from it.

When we moved, we asked that our account be transferred to our new residence. Instead of just transferring the existing account, Duke Energy applied our $100 deposit that was on file toward our current bill, then opened a new account and told us that we had to pay a new deposit of $345. I was told that the new security deposit is based on previous usage from our new house. How can they charge me a deposit based on how much electricity a former tenant used? It doesn't make any sense. They refused to adjust the deposit amount and said that in Indiana, payment plans cannot be made on security deposits. So, they expect $555.02 to be paid by November 15th. What they are doing to families is sinful.

"The server at ** is taking too long to respond." I use my computer daily, this is not my error. Please advise when this will be corrected.

Duke Energy refuses to install our meter for electrical service. My wife called Duke Energy to have our service turned on and they said that she owed a bill from a previous address. But if she paid this bill in full they would hook her up. So, she paid the bill in full and they gave her a date and a confirmation number.

She called them back and talked to someone else with her confirmation number of money paid and they said they had done a background check and told her that her husband still owed a bill at the residence we were to move into so until his bill is paid in full, they refused to hook her up.

She has never had an electric bill at our present home so how can they hold her liable for another person's bill. We have been living on a generator for the past 4 months and the gas needed to run it keeps us broke when we could be paying an electric bill instead and have the proper power in our home.

My wife is on SSI and I cannot work due to medical problems and have applied for SSD and am at the end of my waiting period. My lawyers have told me that I am going to get it, it just takes time. Winter's coming on and we are running out of time! We have tried every resource to help me take care of this bill which is $1,100 but they have not got the resources and we are at a loss.

Duke energy wants the money in full and will not make payment arrangements. Also, my wife took the money which was about $736 out of her CD at the bank to pay this and has to pay this money back! I am desperate for help!

Since March 16, 2010, I have been disputing a prior bill with Duke Power. On March 16, my daughter and I moved out of a homeless shelter into our current apartment. In May 2009, we lost our home after being laid off from Wachovia since December 2007. I was unable to get any apartment to rent while on unemployment, so my daughter and I were forced to stay in a hotel.

Fast forward to March 2010. I review the final bill from that prior residence and note that they did not disconnect my services until July 2009, even though I was up for disconnection before we vacated the residence. I faxed copies of hotel expenses during May to July 2009. But Duke Power refused to make adjustments to the account. I requested payment arrangements after verification from Crisis Ministries that I was moving out of a homeless shelter. Duke Power refused to provide payment arrangements and instead recommended I stay in the homeless shelter until I get them paid in full.

From March 2010 to August 2010, the apartment complex kept the utilities in their name. In August, I requested service in my name for a prior bill of $1,012. I paid $498 towards that balance, which included a $200 security deposit. In September, I received a bill with the full prior balance again, plus disconnection notification. I requested payment arrangements again that were refused.

Finally, on November 23, 2011, two days before Thanksgiving, they disconnected our utilities. They were not restored until January 5. I had to file bankruptcy to get my utilities restored. We did not have lights for 6 weeks. I got behind in my rent because I had to pay for us to stay in a hotel again, even though we had a home.

On March 2011, Duke Power billed me again for the prior balance. However, this time they gave me a 6-month payment plan. The payment plan was maintained and ended on September 2011. Unfortunately, they did not apply my payments appropriately. Every time a bill was processed, it had automatic disconnection notification attached to it. They did not apply some payments or applied payments to my account as though I had paid late.

They double billed me for the security deposit of $225. They charged me for NSF fees for payments that were paid electronically via a prepaid visa card, yet they refused to make the adjustments. My Walmart card prepaid statement shows none of my payments were declined because they were dispersed via the online Billpay. If the money wasn't there, a payment would not have been sent electronically to Duke Power.

I have contacted the Utility commission and I just received a statement in the mail. Duke power is not admitting their errors and still charging me for NSF fees and I have do not have a checking account and they have not requested payments via my prepaid visa card that would be declined. I kept my documentation and intend to be victorious in proving the erroneous practices. I am also looking for anyone that would like to join me in a class action suit against Duke Power.

Duke Energy turned off my electric service because they made an error in their system. They sent someone out to turn the service back on after I explained to them my husband had spent 24 days in the hospital and it was very hot in my house and we needed the service back on as soon as possible. The call was made early in the morning. If my husband didn't take the time to write down the confirmation number, they would have never found out we made the payment over the phone. We called them five times and explained the same story about paying our bill and the rep stated in the system that we mailed the payment in and they received it late.

They finally turned the service back on 6:30 pm, after being off for ten hours and our three kids came home from school and it made us feel like bad parents. That happened on Sept 13th. We received a notice today Oct 11, stating because of the disconnection they reviewed our account and it showed unsatisfactory payment history and therefore we need to make a $250 deposit. This was the first time our service has ever been turned off because of their wrongdoing and we get hit with an extra $250 deposit on our bill. My husband is out of work because of medical problems and this is really stressing us out.

I'm a second degree student at a UNC-based university. I was paying the minimum amount on my Duke bill all summer up until August. I was unemployed, had been for the majority of the summer with the exception of June.

I called Duke to ask them to move the disconnect notice up a few weeks or until the end of August when I might be able to come up with the $87.50 to keep my lights on. The person I spoke with said that that wasn't an option and I needed to pay the $87.50. I said I was a student (full time), was unemployed and couldn't pay that at that time, but I could do it by the end of the month at least. The guy then proceeded to tell me that that wouldn't be an option, but I could pay the bill off in three easy payments, even though he knew that I was a student and unemployed, etc.

So he steamrolled into an "agreement" of $108 in 10 days, followed by two other payments at later dates of $70. So basically the agreement said, "Hey, we're gonna cut your power off now or in 10 days." So I agreed to the agreement because I had no other choice.

They cut my power off on August 10.

I'm a full time student, trying to work, and I've been without power in my apartment for 2 months. I've called to get this situation resolved many times, even calling them when I got a job and said, "I've got this job, I can pay the $108 on Friday when I get paid, and if you don't get the following $70 payment from me in two weeks after the first payment, feel free to cut my lights back off and we can go from there." But they didn't want to work with me on that. The only option was, and still is, (here's the shocker) to pay $351 plus a $100 re-deposit fee for a new account, so I'll have to pay $451 to Duke in order to get my power cut back on. My payments went from $87.50 to $107 to $451 and in my state of things right now, that's not really possible, but I'm working on it or trying to figure out what to do.

Like I said, I'm a second degree full-time student, working part time. I didn't get any student refund back from school because I'm at the borrowing limit for school and I can't even finish my second degree anyways with just one semester left. I've gotta apply to grad school which is $70 that I don't have anyways. But what I'm trying to say is that I'm a good person. I'm a full-time student, I like to learn and I'm trying to do the best with what I have. And the fact that I'm going to school and trying to live a normal life when my power's been off for 2 months because Duke won't work with me is ridiculous. I don't know what to do. But apparently this thing has happened to other people on varying levels. I hope someone can help me pay Duke or get them to cut my power on or something.

Thanks for reading this. I hope someone can help me.

I have no power, no food (because the fridge and stove are electric). I eat non-perishables or I eat out. I can't iron clothes, couldn't even blowdry my hair if I wanted to. I have to use a flashlight or the light on my phone in order to read at night.

I received a letter in the mail yesterday stating that Duke Energy is going up 18.6%. Why the increase? Doesn't Duke Energy get enough of our money?

My bill has never been over $200.00 a month in the seven years I have lived in my home. Then, I get a bill for $477.77 for one month. When I called to see why the big difference, I was told that "my meter was read wrong by Duke Energy." I was told that it could have been read by a sub or a new person. But pretty much tough! So now, I am stuck with a big bill because of their error! I don't understand why after seven years my bill increased that much. I had signed up for flex billing but had to cancel it because I cannot have that with this balance.

On 9/22/11, I purchased a 150 year old REO property in Connersville IN to move into asap. The property had been occupied by the same renter for the last 37 years. Duke Energy had no problem with the state of the service for all of those years. The city turned on the water on 9/23. Duke Energy is basically preventing me from moving in, by refusing to turn on my electric or supply me with their reasoning in writing for a week. Though my building is grandfathered in under Indiana statute 675 IAC 12-4-11, from forced code upgrades, an inbred, corrupted, incompetent boob of a building inspector has refused to allow them to turn the power on. First, he refused to tell me why. Secondly, he claimed that the whole system had to be brought up to code & today (after I involved the county board members), I was told the incoming service line is frayed. I will be filing suit against Fayette County, the Planning Commission & its employees, the City of Connersville, & Duke Energy for its complicity ASAP. I haven't even done business with these people, but would choose ANY other electric provider if I had the choice! I can't wait to see how they are going to explain to the judge why there is a problem now, when its the same exact service they've had no problems with for the last 37 years.

I called Duke Energy to make payment arrangement. They told me to call back, because they can only make arrangement 5 days in advance. I called back to make make the arrangement. They gave me arrangement that I could not do. But they gave me no choice. I tried calling them back to make a better arrangement. I would have the whole bill paid by the end of the month, but I get paid every 2 weeks. I could have $200 paid on Sept. 30, 2011, another payment on Oct. 14, and full amount before or by Nov. 8.

I paid $175 to Duke Energy at the end of July. I was very busy with school and didn't notice that I hadn't gotten a bill for August. On Sept. 12, I came home and found out my electricity had been cut off. I called Duke. I was told that it was cut off, because I missed the August payment by about 10 days. I told them I hadn't been given any notice that it would be disconnected. The supervisor said that they didn't have to give me any notice, and to get the electricity back on, I would have to pay $274. And Duke would not consider any payment plan. I also noticed that I am being charged $34.76 a month for gas that I don't even use.

I was told I needed a repair because my meter was pulling away from the base and since I had underground service, I would be charged a flat rate of $500. But when they came to do the work, the only thing the technicians did was splice a couple of wires inside the meter box. It took no more than thirty or forty minutes. When I called to ask why the charge was so high, he said it was a flat rate and that I was just lucky my yard didn't have to be dug up. The contract says the repair was for a sunken meter base, but all the work was done above ground and inside the meter box. The serviceman said I could file a claim and that there was a link on the website, but I couldn't find one. I sent an email requesting a claim form and I am still waiting. Five hundred dollars for less than an hour of work is outrageous.

First of all, Duke Energy sucks. I think they do all these crap to people because they know they have no other power company in the area, so they don't treat customers well.

My problem is that we have been paying Duke Energy the amount due and they gave us a confirmation number that we think its paid, but a few days later, they send us a letter saying that the payment did not go through. When I call them and asked why it didn't go through, they said that the account number I provided is wrong because my bank said so. When I called my bank and give them the same account number, it goes through and the bank said that Duke did not even request anything from them.

Now, they are making us pay return fees for their mistake. This is wrong and they said that they are going to disconnect the power anytime soon.

I am purchasing a mobile home (rent to own). I had lived in the home for 2 months when Duke Energy came and cut the electric. I had been paying the people I am buying the home from each month an amount they stated the electric was. I was asked to keep the utilities in their name until I paid the last house payment. This was due to previous people not keeping the contract and they didn't want to keep paying a reconnect charge to put back into their name.

Needless to say, I called them (Kathy **) and now she is not even returning my calls. I then called Duke Energy. Turns out, the electric had been turned on illegally by her and her husband Jeremy. Duke Energy had turned their power out in March 2011.

I provided Duke Energy with proof that I didn't take over the lot lease until May 2011. Mind you, I am now asked to pay a bill amount ($877.90) to turn it back on and put it into my name. The woman at Duke I have been talking to is Robin and she is the head of the department. She will not allow any payment options on this or put the account into my name until all monies are paid.

I asked what the monthly estimate is and I am told $190 tops a month. I can understand paying the two months I was living there, but why is it almost $878? How can this be legal? I live on a small budget, just as everyone else these days. I have three children and have been staying with other people while trying to get this resolved.

Now in 2 days, my children are starting school and I can't get the lady to even answer my calls or respond to my voice messages. And there is no one above her that I can speak to? I am so angry. Why do I have to pay this, yet I am in good standing and not required to even have a deposit? This makes no sense. Anyone know a good lawyer that can help me out with this.

I inquired about ordering electrical service at a residence where I do not reside. The representative advised that the service had to be in the name of the person who resides there. When I questioned why that was, as I've had electrical service in my name at two separate locations well over 10 years, I was informed that a new policy went into effect in 2008 stating that the person residing in the residence must have the bill in their name. I was further informed that the electrical service currently in my name, at the location where I do not reside, must be changed to the occupant's name and they would be sending a letter giving a specific time to have the service changed over or it would result in disconnection of the service.

My wife called Duke Energy to obtain the FCC ruling or Congressional law and was advised this was a Duke Energy policy backed by the FCC. After researching Duke Energy's website and the FCC website, the policy or law could not be located. It makes no sense to me that as a homeowner of multiple properties, I cannot provide utilities in my name. The 2nd residence where the service is provided is on the same lot as my primary residence.

On April 24, 2011, my neighbor saw fire, sparks, or flames coming from the power lines next to my driveway. She called Duke Energy and a repairman was dispatched. When I returned home at approximately 5:10pm, power on the street was out and the repairman was completing the removal of a tree from the power lines. He completed work and left.

I was in my house at approximately 6:30 when the power came back on. Immediately, there were several explosions and flames flew from outlets and power strips. Two power strips continued to burn and had to be extinguished. I will be happy to produce those if requested.

My friend was moving in with us and she was going to pay the power bill, so she called and came to find out that her soon-to-be ex-husband put her on his account without permission. He didn't pay the bill, so they said she was responsible for it because her name was on the account. First of all, you can't hold someone else responsible for a bill that isn't even their name because if that's the case, I can add my worst enemy and leave them with a high power bill. So I tried to call and get the power hooked up and pay my past due balance but they said I had to pay her bill in full before I got the power turned on. I told them she was no longer staying with us and they wanted proof. So, I waited and when she found a place, I got a copy of her lease agreement and faxed it to Duke Energy. They said it was not good enough. Seriously, what other good proof do you need? So now I have to pay $661 just to get my power on.

A Duke Energy employee was marking the yard for electric sources. The next day, the yard was dug up for changes unknown to the homeowner. The landscaping was destroyed by the Duke Energy workers with heaps of mud left behind.

It all started back in November when I paid my bill in full and had a balance of $0 on my bill. The very next bill I received was for double the amount owed.When I spoke to a representative, I asked him to explain it to me because the math doesn't add up, he could not. He then gave me a credit and I thought it was taken cared of, I was wrong. After 2 months, they struck back by raising my budget billing amount to $80 a month this after 2 years of decreased amounts on my budget billing.

I believe the raise in price was due to me catching them with their hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. I started monitoring my bill since I was leery of their billing practices. They put me on a quarterly budget billing plan to be reviewed every 3 months and adjusted accordingly. Six months later they finally made an adjustment.

Well my most recent bill shows a credit of $106 and some change, while at the same time saying I owe $500 and change. I called costumer service and asked them to explain the math to me and the only response I got was, "you owe us $395 and change." I did the math and I come up with them owing me $66 and if I continue to pay the amount they want they will owe me a lot of money. I have been out of work for 2 years now and I am no longer able to claim unemployment benefits, which leaves me with no income. I can not afford to pay money I do not owe for power I have not used.

Even though it stormed here tonight for a few minutes and I completely understand that causes power outages, what I want to complain is that our neighborhood loses power for hours on a normal day. As a consumer who has no other option but to pay for electricity through Duke Energy, I feel like they should be doing more to properly serve their customers. Our power has now been out for 4 hours, it hasn't been raining for 3 1/2 hrs and they say we won't have power for another 9 hrs. It's 85 degrees in my home, my kids are up and it's hot @ 3am. Today will be the hottest day of the year with 110 heat index. What can be done to have them check the power infrastructures in this area?

In January 2011, Duke installed a new meter, a digital instead of the old analog meters. I have been in my house for 6 years and at most used 1,000kwh in a month average over a years time was 8,000. With this "new" meter in place, they stated that I used 4,220kwh in 1 month. over 3,000 the next month. When I contacted them regarding the ridiculous amount of energy they stated that I used, they sent out a tech to "test" the meter. They stated that the meter was working properly, there was nothing wrong with it; however, my monthly usage dropped. Was it because of the weather warming up or did the "test" cause it to work properly.

And if it wasn't working properly, would they inform me of that or just keep it quiet? How many other people are they taking advantage of? They stated that it was due to the usage of my heat pump over a cold winter although over the previous 5 years, I had never used that much electricity, ever. They also tried to blame my appliances, stating they could be faulty. I attempted to talk to a supervisor, however, the reps all state that they had to schedule a call-back, that no supervisor could just take over the call, however, I never received a supervisor call-back. I asked where the physical address was, the rep stated there wasn't any local facility where I could speak with someone. I find this very ironic and convenient for them and in the end, they win. The smaller consumer has to eat it and just deal with it in order to have electricity.

Consequences? They turned off my electricity, refused to give any sort of credit or payment help to reduce the instant hike in charges. I had to pay $600.00 to get my electric turned back on - which included a deposit Why? I've been paying Duke Energy since they took over Cinergy, they've always gotten their money from me, which is very sad considering my average bill before the "new" meter was around $100.00/month. I feel that this is a huge corporation raping the little people financially. I already work 2 jobs, a single parent, and now, I have to take the ridiculous charges from Duke because they are the only providers in Ohio.

On Sunday, June 19, 2011, I was sitting at home eating in my kitchen when around or about the 2 pm, my electricity went out completely. I reside in a condo of which I own. I called customer service to report the outage and was told that my service would be restored about 6 pm that evening. I called again about at 3:18 pm and was told that my power will be restored about 2 pm on Monday, June 20, 2011. I looked at that as hard to believe because everyone else in my building and complex had full power. I then called again at 6:27 pm and was told that I should have never been told of a time span for reconnection because my outage has nothing to do with the weather but with my meter.

I was sent a letter from Duke Energy concerning a meter change and a possible change to my due date as well as a possible proration of my bill, for which I had no problem with. But, at this time since the cover on my meter was missing, my service will not be restored until I purchase a cover for it. I was instructed that when I obtain the cover, I am to call Duke Energy so that they can restore my power. Between 8 and 9 pm, my electricity was restored. As of Monday, June 20, 2011, a Duke Energy technician came out to my home and, my stepfather met him there and was told that my meter was stolen; and since I called 3 times on Sunday, June 19, 2011, it is the reason why a technician was at my home on that day to replace my meter.

To make this long story short, I do not believe that my meter was stolen due to any vandalism. I believe that there is a cover up going on, mainly because my old meter was found in the bushes near the meter box which holds 6 unit meters by the President Todd ** of my HOA and his maintenance personnel. If someone is going to steal a meter which is in good and full service condition, why throw it away in the bushes? I believe that the technician who changed out my meter broke the cover (the meter box which holds the 6 meters is 27 years old) and to avoid blame, threw the meter in the bushes to make everything look like vandalism.

Due to the lack of communication from Duke Energy, I have to hire an electrician's services and purchase a new meter box and cover. At this time, parts were not available because of the age of the now existing meter box. I went through mental and financial distress. I feel that as a current and excellent customer with Duke Energy, this matter was handled unduly. I was never notified about my meter being stolen nor did I receive any indication of a technician coming to or being at my home for any service. I had to contact Duke Energy three times in one business day (Sunday, June 19, 2011) to obtain any information; but the fourth day (Monday, June 20, 2011) is the only time for which I was notified of a theft of my meter. In conclusion, I am requesting an investigation of this matter.

After a few months of not working, my Duke bill got behind and was shut off (at 1:30 in the afternoon). I called them to ask if I could set up a payment arrangement, in which they accepted. I was able to round up enough money to get the service turned back on. They told me to have the service turned back on the same day, I needed to pay an additional $50 for an "after hours" fee.

Apparently if you make a payment after 12:30, they consider their workday over and to send a rep back out to turn on the services, it is after hours. Having 3 small children in the house, I had to pay it. I felt robbed. Still being out of work, I happened to go behind and default on the agreement again within a couple months. They shut my service off again. This time they shut it off at 1:00p.m. After I was able to borrow enough money to turn the power on again, they informed me I had to pay another $50 "after hours" fee. How can they do this? They wait until it is "after hours" before they turn the service off, then they charge extra to turn it back on. They already charge a reconnect fee, how can they charge more? Is this legal?

I received a letter in the mail, stating that my meter was not working correctly for 4 months. The letter stated that they would be estimating the bill. I called to get information on this. We had received 2 low bills, but they were out after the second one to fix the problem. I waited for the information and breakdown of the charges to be sent in order to review the information, but instead, I got a bill for $997.00. No explanation was given! I immediately called, questioning the bill and was told that $671.00 was retroactive for the 4 months of unmetered service. The other $330.00 was from the current month's bill in January.

I explained to the representative that we had installed a wood burning stove in our home in September and no longer heat with electric. I also explained that the estimated amount which was based off of our last year's usage would not be accurate. She said we could dispute the bill and I did. I then told her that the current bill of $330.00 was also incorrect due to the fact that we no longer heat with electric and the bill should not be that high. I was then told that it was an actual reading and I could not dispute that part of the bill.

Confused, at this point, I started tracking the meter usage daily. After calculating our usage for one week, I requested that they send a technician out to test or replace the meter. I was told that a technician would be out within a week. Mind you, my bill is due in the 25th and it is now the 21st. The technician came out and tested the meter and it checked out good. I questioned the technician about the difference in usage. I explained that we showed using 2101 KWH for a time frame of 17 days, but for the week that I tracked the meter, the usage was only 244 KWH total, and due to the fact that we do not heat with electric, there was no explanation for this dramatic of a difference. I was then laughably told that one of my appliances must be malfunctioning. Mind you, they only malfunction the first half of the month and not when I am tracking them!

Not willing to take this explanation, I called the service department and spoke with Dan (service representative). I asked him to tell me what meter number was on my home. He gave me the number and I checked it with mine. It was correct. He stated that he saw that they changed them in August and again in December due to non-working products. The number he gave me was installed in December. I then asked him to trace the meter itself and see when it went active. Amazingly enough, the meter that was currently on my home was activated in August and has worked correctly since the date it was activated. I asked him to verify that information for me. After speaking with his lead that evening, he again told me that the meter number currently on my home has been active since August and the current read of 5939 KWH is for the service to date from the time of activation.

I was excited now! We had an answer. The meter on my home was never changed for a second time. An error was made during installation in August, and for some reason, the meter was not associated to my address. In December, the meter number was associated finally, but somehow, they made a mistake and thought they installed a second meter. The charges for the current bill of $330.00 along with my next bill would bring us current.

I called the customer service department to inform them of this mistake and was told that it was already being investigated and they would have a representative call me. I asked if I could speak with someone at that time since I had just received the information from their service department and it would be easily verified. I was informed that they don't have a direct line and I could not speak to the people deciding my bill. Wow! I waited another day with no call and decided to call the service department once more to check the number of the meter that was on our account for the time in question. Low and behold, the story changed, but the same gentleman remembered stating the information to me the previous day. After speaking with his supervisor, the story changed. I requested to speak with his supervisor at that time, but again, you have to wait for them to call you.

A lady supervisor did call me about 2 hours later, and I explained the information that I received the day before. I also told her that I had been tracking our usage as of February 14, 2011 and checked their website for information on estimating monthly bills based on appliances used, and everything went to support the fact that our meter had been active since August and the current reading of 5948 taken that day was a current read for the entire time in question. She told me that that is not the information that she has and that she felt the charges were accurate and would not adjust the bill. I offered to supply her with the information that I had to prove that they were wrongly overcharging us by $671.00, but she had no interest in seeing any of the information.

Now frustrated again, I went down to our local office and filed suit against Duke Energy. It may have cost me another $89.00 but it is worth it to show Duke that they can't do this to people. I have all records to prove I am correct as well as dates, times, and people I spoke with, so let them try! Wish me luck. The court date is in April. If you have any similar stories, feel free to forward them to me at **@yahoo.com. I would be glad to provide them as well.

I paid my bill of $343.88 on December 2010. When my service was started, I had no phone so I used that of my grandmother's next door. The next day my grandmother paid her bill and they applied it to mine as a credit. She called back and had it fixed. I received a bill, so I go a whole month thinking I have a credit on my bill. To my surprise, I get a bill in January that says I owe over $600.00. When I called and talked to Brandon, he said there was nothing he could do.

I asked who the billing manager was, and he stated that there were multiple managers and supervisors for the billing department and no one could help me. I have the receipts from my bills dating back to September and it looks like when they took off what my grandmother had paid, they added it to my bill as unpaid debt. When I paid in December, I had a 0 balance and that was a day before she paid. I asked Brandon how they could run a billing department and have correct and good customer service and communication if there was not at least one supervisor over the area. He could not respond and would not help. I am asking that another energy company be allowed to come in to our area to give Duke some competition.

They lack customer service. My grandmother had a doctor write in, saying their lights could not be turned off because they both have COPD and use nebulizers and a breathing machine with oxygen at night. Her power was turned off for $21.00 a few months ago at night while she was lying in the bed with pneumonia. This company needs to be examined as they are following their own set of rules. They expect us to pay on time or we are turned off, but they estimate bills, and mine are being estimated on the previous owner who was a large family. There are only two of us here now, and I know we do not use $300 or more a month in electricity. I want them to start sending back out meter readers to read my meter instead of estimating. It is not fair that we are being abused and when will it all stop? When will you help us instead of being on their side?

My power bill was $122 last month, now $325 this month. Nothing was different at my house. How can this happen?

Over a month ago, I put a deposit and asked for new service with Duke Power at my newly purchased mobile home. The home was set, final grading done, meter base in place and all work done. I talked to Erica, the local engineer who told me she couldn't "find the place". I gave more directions, she found it and said a transformer would have to be place, and underground dug. It could have been done prior to my final inspection but for what ever reason, they didn't do it.

Several weeks passed, I kept calling asking if they were ever coming out to do the work, still no answer. I got the final inspection and still nothing, called and called, still nothing. I called every day and begged for them to come turn the power on as I had no place to live, other than my home, and it's been three weeks without power now, and the temperatures are around 7 degrees! I was told last Friday, it came and passed, then it would be Monday, came, passed, then Wednesday, nope, still no power. Today, I told them I was going to go up a 30-foot ladder and attempt to hook it up myself. They claim to be coming in the morning. But we'll see. I can't understand why they won't turn my power on!

I bought a 133 yrs old house in November 2008 that needed a lot of work on (it was a Fannie Mae). It already had electricity turned off and water pipes winterized. This house was literally falling in. There was a huge hole in the ceiling, a lot of water damage and mold. Needless to say, it was not livable. I waited until Spring of 2009 to start work on it, which we had to start with removing approximately 5 layers of wallpaper, and that was just the beginning. Everything, utility-wise, was working fine. Until October 2010, when I had been paying my bills all along (maybe late on a few) but I wasn't living there. There was no one living there since previous owners moved out (not sure exactly when that was).

Well, in September 2010, I get a bill from Duke Energy saying I had a credit on my bill for $87.41. I thought okay I've been paying my bills, but thought it was odd though. Then in October, I get a bill saying amount due previous bill $87.41cr, then it says prior month(s) electric charges $377.90 which makes it a balance forward of $290.49 then they add on my current charges of $164.26 leaving it a balance of $492.69. When I called, the lady said they felt something wasn't right and they didn't feel it was enough kilowatt hours so they estimated it and it would catch up later. I'm a single mother, how do they expect me to pay something like that. They gave me a "payment plan" that I could pay an extra $106.00 besides my monthly bill. Actually, they called it our agreement but it was really their agreement, I just had to go along with it.

I just don't understand that they had to go back to April and "estimate" these charges. No one has been living there. I think it's unfair the way they did this. There was a lady who came and reread this, and she said she remembers this house when she was actually doing the reading all the time and that it always read high. I didn't even have any appliances until the very end of August 2010 and that was a stove and refrigerator. The other guy that actually took readings on the meter said the meter was fine, just old, but he doesn't understand why they went back to April and where they came up with these numbers. He said I could request getting a digital meter, they are not as good but I could read it myself.

They make these older meters so confusing. I told a gentleman at Duke Energy customer service Monday 12/13/2010 that I was requesting a digital meter. He came back about 5 minutes later and said that he was not allowed to do that. I told him that I wasn't paying the extra $377.90 because I do get all the different readings and different kilowatt hours. The same things have been on but maybe a dehumidifier, and not all the time, and my kilowatt hours for October to November were 214 in my usage and September to October were 830 in usage. Now figure that out! The last gentleman that came to look at the meter said that the dehumidifier, refrigerator and stove (not being used) would not make that much difference. My daughter and I haven't been able to move into this house because I didn't want to run the electric bill up anymore. Were still living at my parents.

I have been disputing a portion of my bill with DP since March 2010 when my daughter moved out of the homeless. We were downsized after December 2007 layoff. May 2009 - March 2010, my daughter and I were homeless. I finally went back to work April 2010. Duke Power has been unwilling to make any payment arrangements regarding a prior bill of $1,100, a bill that includes dates in which we were homeless. They refused to credit my account the difference even though I was able to provide documentation of the hotels we were living in. I tried based on anticipation of tuition refunds to make lump sum payments, however, those payments were not received as anticipated, and submitted online payments that could not be cancelled were declined.

To date, my utilities have been disconnected for 3 weeks. I cannot believe they would rather we sit in the dark and freeze to death before working out payment arrangements with me. We are now forced to live again as though we are homeless. I have wasted my past three paychecks trying to survive without my utilities during the extremely cold spell in Charlotte, NC. The stress and aggravation is wreaking havoc on my medical condition. I am a contract employee and I can't risk taking days off work to chase assistance I probably won't qualify for. This just seems cruel and inhumane of Duke Power to treat people this way. They disconnected our lights two days before Thanksgiving. Here we are now, 12 days before Christmas and they are ruining my life, forcing me to waste my income.

Not only am I low income, but my summer bill quadrupled from the winter bill as I don't pay heat. Somehow, they think that it's okay to die of heat exhaustion and not okay to freeze to death. With no help in sight for my 600 bill after the summer, I was told the bills are so high for cooking gas and electric to make up for the horrible winter a few years back. Hey! I didn't live here then and shouldn't have to pay the gas delivery riders of $40 and that's just to supposedly deliver the gas not including usage.

So guess what, I turned off my cooking gas because I was using maybe $2.00 worth of gas and now I'm saving the $40.00 per month they were charging me as a standard delivery charge. I wonder, why a lady living in luxury with 12 kids gets monetary help along with her old bill being forgiven with no questions asked and because I'm a single white woman age 50 with no kids, and on disability am told that I make "too much money" to receive help. Well, excuse me for working hard all my life until sarcoidosis and chrons and depression have made me unemployable. Sorry I made a good living when I could work. I am still technically low income.

Then on Aug 4th, they came out here and shut the electricity off. It was a high index heat day. I called them and they were so rude.

There was a black girl saying "mmm what's this, and what's this", like I had been extravagant having an outside light. The issue wasn't the outside light, it was their record keeping. 127 dollars for all electricity and and outside light isn't extravagant, and even if it was, who is she to judge me like that? That isn't her business. What is their business is keeping records, and not being underhanded.

What they did was lie. They wanted a deposit and did this so they could get a deposit. I looked and I've paid deposits before. Twice, and forgot about it. I wonder what happened to those deposits? Plus my bill said it was due on Aug 16th. This was Aug 4th.

Then I get it turned back on, they come out here today, hop over my fence and are traipsing around the yard. I asked them what they were doing, and they said they came to shut the meter off. I said I paid my bill yesterday; they said I did not, and after arguing said 'we give you two hours." They act like people have piles of money sitting around and can go pay hundreds of dollars just like that.

I called and they said they put my other house bill on there where my daughter was living. I asked were they not going to let me know? They said they switched the name in September. Oh so they just add it to this bill without telling me? They set up a plan, but still, I paid 300 yesterday for 2 mos as I've been off work with a broken arm.

Then they come back in 2 hrs and are traipsing around again. I asked what they thought they were doing, they said "we have orders to pull the meter ma'am." I said I just talked to them earlier and set up a payment plan; it was on the other house and they just threw it on my bill. He kept saying "I'm pulling the meter."

Also why did he say "we are pulling the meter? " He just wanted to be Mr powerful.

They all act like that, they must feel very confident of their job. I'm suing them for that high heat index day because they knew very good and well if they mailed a letter over the weekend from another state that I would not have received it. My freezer thawed and I had meat in it, and there is no sense in all of this chaos.

I got three different quotes when I called them after that for what my bill was. September's bill did not come. I was waiting for it to see how they put it on paper, it didn't come but a letter telling me about my deposit.

Then Sept bill came. I called and went to pay it before they shut it off and tried to make it look like that was the reason they shut it off. Then in Oct I got a bill for Sept and Oct. They are crooked. Also to top it off, I asked if there was any electricity on at the other house, they said no. I said I didn't want to pay that bill and have the people turn it on, I wanted it off. They told me twice no, it wasn't on.

I got in the car, went over there and guess what? Electricity is on. Did anyone ask me for permission? No. Why did she lie? I guess the thing to do, is record all calls, and videotape them when they come on your property and put it on. I feel like I live in the Soviet Union.

On November 3 I called Duke Energy to start gas and heat service. I even paid the $170 deposit that day ahead of time. They are quick to take my money but not start service yesterday, between 8-4, as promised. They should waive my deposit. I called several times yesterday and today all they do is "apologize," claiming they're behind on orders and are on the way. They said they'd be here by 2 and now it's after 6 pm. It's 46 degrees now and will be lower tonight. They have all year to anticipate consumer demand and should be prepared accordingly. At least, have the courtesy to call us or have an automated call inform us of the delay. I shouldn't have to call to keep getting the run-around.

There is a lack of communication between customer service and the dispatch center. They claim they called me twice (lie). I was home all day and my caller ID proves they did not. They claimed they came by last night but the outdoor box was locked. We told them we have the key and to call us or knock on our door. They claim fixing dangerous gas leaks takes precedence over starting service. What if there was a blizzard and my 2-year old son dies of hypothermia? That is death on their hands either way and Duke Energy would be to blame.

Another rep claimed that none of the techs carry cell phones with them, that they have a computer screen in their truck. Did they ever relay a message to the tech inquiring about the status (time) of our order? They claim they're not that advanced. Well, let's see how advanced their communication is when they are sued for (possible) wrongful death. I did my part to prevent this possible tragedy in starting service and they are not living up to their end of the bargain, greedy, callous, inefficient, unknowledgeable Duke Energy.

Duke Energy is a complete rip off. There is no competition for them to compete with and they have been taking advantage of their customers for years. I got a letter stating that since I had two disconnection notices in a year, my next bill would reflect a $440.00 deposit added to my already unaffordable $203.00 monthly bill average. So my next bill of is $643.00 and I have lived in the same house for 20 years and never put down a deposit.

It's amazing when times get hard, how much companies want to take advantage their customers. Duke Energy should be put out of business or at least have to compete with another company so they can put them out of business when everyone switches to the new company. It can't get worse or we put them out.

My fianc and I purchased a home owned by her parents. Her brother lived at the residence prior to us purchasing the property. Her brother ran up the electric bill to over a $1000. When the electric was turned off, her brother was busted for tampering with the meter. How? Well, I don't know. I have only met her brother twice. We even had to remove his belongings from the house before we were able to move in. (2 months after purchase).

I called Duke energy to have the utilities turned on in my name so we could move in. After two weeks of being on the phone with Duke's representatives, they decided that because my fianc is related to her brother, then I have to pay her brother's bill before they will permit me to have the utilities turned on. Why on earth should I be held responsible for the man's electric bill just because he is related to my fianc? We are now moved in and still we have no utilities. Is this even legal? Have you ever been ashamed of having a brother? Think about living in a home that you need to sell because you can't get the utilities turned on unless you pay a $1300.00 bill that belongs to someone else.

I have never had lights in my name, so I tried to get lights connected and they said I couldn't because my ex-husband owes a bill. My name was never on the account and we split up in Feb. 2009 and the bill is for August 2009. I also have proof that I wasn't with him and they still want me to pay his bill plus my own deposit to get lights.

I am 31 years old and my family has been with Duke Energy for as long as I can remember. We have had problems and paid late before, but have always paid. Recently, we moved from our old home into one previously owned by my sister and her ex-husband. She, my sister, had a previous bill from 7 years prior, and when finding we shared the last name before she was married, they tacked her bill onto my own and would not allow that my power be activated in my home until it was paid. Many fees had accrued during the time passed, and she did not even live with me, yet I now have at an average close to $300 dollars a month extra added monthly to my bill.

It has been 8 months since it has began, and the original balance was $800 that was owed by her, which I have paid time and time again by now. I pay two bills a month to them, and found myself unable to pay it by the day given this month. It was to be the final month of the two payment agreement and they are unwilling to work with me even though I have already paid once this month and I only need a small amount of days longer until I will be able to pay. It is unfair and should, in my opinion, be against the law what they are doing since she is not even a resident in this home. My power is set to be disconnected later on today, and though I know there's nothing to be done at this point, I wanted all to know what crooks Duke Energy are and how they care nothing about their clients or community.

Where I once had money, too, easily but monthly groceries and other necessities, I now struggle constantly and often have found myself having to depend on the aid of others to make ends meet. Now I will have to pay a large reconnection fee along with the bill when I get it reconnected. My mother who lives with me is a diabetic and cannot keep her insulin refrigerated properly. My life and that of my family has been screwed. It's unfair mistreatment.

In August, I received my July electricity bill for the amount of $81.97, which seemed a little low for July, but I did not think too much of it until I got my August bill in September. The August bill was a whopping 225% more than my July bill. I thought, how is that even possible? My energy consumption should be going down, not up, especially not up $100 in a month. I contacted the customer service line where it was explained to me that there must have been an error in the meter reading for July (100kwh off), so it was just figured into this month's bill. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to get out of paying for the energy I'm consuming, but I do want to be billed properly. That means, billed for the energy I use when I used it.

The customer service representative repeatedly stated that I had used the energy and must pay for it. I reiterated that I understood that. Eventually, the representative stopped responding all together. That was when I contacted the BBB to notify them of Duke's billing practices and their inability to provide any sort of solution. Duke responded by stating that I had a large bill and that if you added up the bills from July and August of 2009, it was actually less than my bills from July and August of 2010. This big corporation was totally missing the point, it's not the cost, but rather how it was distributed due to a meter reading "error". How is an individual, on a fixed income, supposed to come up with that significant amount of money? Particularly since my July bill had led me to believe that my energy costs were decreasing as they do every fall.

Then this month, I got a bill for $10. I'm not even kidding. I checked the reading on the bill and it says I used 0kwh. I know that's not true. I contacted their customer service once again this morning. I made it clear that these "errors" in their meter reading were unacceptable. I did not want to be slammed with a huge bill next month because they did not read my meter accurately this month. They will be sending someone out for a special meter reading. Is it just me or it's ridiculous that I have to go through all the trouble of contacting Duke and the BBB? I pay for a service, should it not be done correctly? I have now started taking pictures of the meter on the day they are supposed to be reading it so that I can compare it to their bill.

This company (who has a strict monopoly) in Greensboro, continues to threaten me with excessive fees if I do not make timely payments, which are not frequent by any train of thought. As cited, "if I do not make a $67.67 payment, (note I received the letter on 10/9-Saturday, and they want payment by 10-13, Wednesday, even the post office doesn't move this fast) they will disconnect my services and to reconnect incur a $25.75 during business hours or $77.25 after business hours. Of course, they are also offering to make payment (with a nominal fee applied). In addition, they are demanding that an additional deposit may be required to maintain service. I have the gripes about Duke, but do have a gripe as to why they are the only choice. Receiving threatening actions especially, from such a necessary "human security" service is an abuse of power that must be addressed by all public officials.

I'm building my house. I called about power and an engineer guy came to the house. He said it was okay. He told me that a crew was going to come by and run cables to the house, and after I paid my $250 deposit, it was going to take two days. I called back a few weeks later about the power and they said they haven't received the inspection from the Oconee County building inspector. When I asked the inspector, he told me they have faxed it already. They got proof on file, but they would fax it again.

Okay, now I called them back and asked if he faxed the inspection. They told me it was going to take 24 hours for it to be on file. I called the next day and they said they were going to put the meter on. I called next day and they told me they're out now and today they will get it on. Now it all started on the 15th of September so by Friday, 17th, I should have had my meter and power on. I called and called every day for the whole week of September 20 to the 24. They keep giving me the same issue. Give us your number, we will investigate and call you back tomorrow. He told me this every day, lying to me.

Well, on Thursday, I got upset. I called and asked to speak with a supervisor or someone who could help me and tell me what's going on. This lady gave me a little different roll around. She was going to use an email because that gets quicker and assure me that on Friday, September 25, they were going to call me. But no call, no nothing. Monday was too early, my son was sick so I didn't call. I called yesterday, 28th, this guy gave me another roll around. When I talked with the engineer about this, he said his job was done, that it was the metering department now.

And who are these people? Do they play people like me this way? Is there someone I can go to complain or call? They got to be breaking some kind of standards guides, or is it because my wife and my name sounds Hispanic, so why worry about it? I don't know what to do now. I have to rent a generator which is costing me a lot of money. I bet if I'm late on my bill, they won't be calling me every day for two weeks to ask for it. They will cut my power. I wish I could do something. I'm sure other people are having these same issues.

Duke is gorging rates. I work for public utilities (sewer) and I know what is charged during the winter and summer months. In February, we had a large amount of snow and the readers didn't come out to read the meters. Everyone had estimated bills. Duke was supposed to make adjustments on the bill but never did it. Instead, they kept adding on. If you paid the amount that was estimated, instead of them reducing your bill, they simply added on to it.

There are still people who have not been getting the adjustment and I'm one of them but yet each month I get a higher and higher bill. And plus, Duke is quick to disconnect and charge for reconnection plus a deposit. Duke needs to go. The way they do business is not customer friendly nor do they have any compassion for people during this recession.

Cutting off people's power and making threats against them if they don't pay is not acceptable. Duke needs to realize that they can't continue to 'bully' customers. We are stakeholders and if they continue with their rude and crude ways of handling matters, hopefully we can bring this to the attention of the OPUC and request a public hearing and if that doesn't work, a class act lawsuit can be filed against them in behalf of the millions of customers they have managed to rip off.

Hello! I'm Kelly and I've been with Duke Energy for at least 4 years. For a couple of those years I was on PIP, (percentage of income payment). I was enrolled in the PIP program by Warren County Community Services. I called for over 3 weeks every day trying to get an appointment to re-new the program with no avail because the automatic appointment machine said, "We're sorry, all PIP appointments for your zip code have been filled. Please try again on the next business day". Well, I did that over and over and over, and was not able to get an appointment.

Even though I've managed to pay Duke $725.00 over the past 3 months, they turned my electric off on August 18, 2010 and will not turn it back on until I can pay over $1,500.00. I live in a mobile home in a trailer park. I don't have $1,500.00. I did mail them $235.00 on 8-30-10.

My 15-year old son started high school on August 24th, 2010. We have 2 coolers in the kitchen to try to keep food cold, we can't take showers, (no warm water). No alarm clocks, My son does his homework by lanterns and candles. No fans to keep air moving, the allergens are awful, (can't vacuum), and we all have allergies. My son was diagnosed with Mono the first of August and even though he can go to school, having a good breakfast and supper would have accelerated his recovery. He's not fully recovered. It's hot at night and we only have screens for a couple windows to be open. It's wearing on us terribly. The stress of this whole situation has really taken a toll on my family. After 16 days with no electric, and no hope in site.

I don't have their address as they refuse to send us bills. It has been an ongoing problem for years now. We have to call the above 800 number to see how much we owe for that much. When we call them, we get a bunch of lies about bills are compared to last year's bill and then during holiday people have company and they have to charge extra for that. Then we get that they check the meters from the office and now they are saying a technician comes out and checks it with a radio signal and transmits it back to the office.

I asked for a date and time that they come and they said it was confidential and they can't give out such information. Mentally, it has driven me insane. It has cost us a fortune to even maintain our electricity and they continue to refuse to bill us. When we call customer service, they always say, "Well, view your bill online." We don't have to send one out. They are smart ** to say the least. You will hold and hold for over 40 minutes to get a supervisor and most of the time, one won't come back to the phone or else they hang up on you. What I want is for someone to contact this sorry company and make them do their job. They refuse to show me proof of how they determine my bills, refuse to send me bills and then refuse to tell me the dates that their so-called technician comes out, which we know is a lie.

Duke Energy initiates a "disconnect" threat the day after a payment is due. We have been Duke customers for 18-1/2 years, but were not allowed to act as guarantors for our daughter's first Duke Energy account because two payments had been "late" within the course of a year. We have never had our service disconnected or defaulted on any bill or payment in over 18 years. I chose paperless billing to avoid their outrageous online payment fees, but, as Duke never sends reminders on any kind, I am having to switch back to paper billing. We have an excellent credit rating, which Duke cares nothing about. We have had to pay a $200 "deposit" plus a "convenience fee" for paying the deposit over the phone in order for our daughter to have electricity.

I am experiencing higher bills from Duke Energy and not having a logical explanation as to why. I was gone for a whole month, and the month I was gone, that bill is higher than the previous month I was home. I was told I left something on or something in my house caused it. I'm no idiot. They of course said they can read my meter at the next scheduled meter, but what good will that do? I wish we had another company to choose from or something would be done about Duke Energy because they are ripping off a whole lot of people.

We had a routine problem of a tree limb bending a power line to the house and arranged for the tree service to come. They arranged for the power line to come down temporarily and assured it usually takes an hour to restore the power. It was an easy job. The power was cut at 8:45am and the job was done in about 70 minutes, whereas they notified Duke to come back out to restore power. However, Duke never sent a crew back out.

We phoned Duke and got the CSR people, who assured us that the power would be restored by noon. Then when that didn't happen, we called again and they said by 5, then by 9, then by midnight, etc. We were on the phone with Duke CSR people about 8 or 9 times throughout the day and night trying to get the power restored, all to no avail. The worse part of this is is the shoddy customer care provided by the Duke CSR dept, along with their inability to actually resolve a simple problem like ours.

They appear to be trained to read a script and not to actually listen to their customers. They give only their first names, so they are untraceable for giving false information (which was common), and if you ask to speak to a supervisor, their typical response is to say they are busy for the next two hours and will maybe call us back. We finally got a supervisor sometime after midnight that night, and all they could do was the same as the the CSR line rep. They could check their computer screen for line crew assignments and reassure us that there was (once again) a crew that would come out soon. Of course we had heard this so many times by now that it felt like something out of a Kafka novel.

When asked to think outside of the box and simply get a crew out to perform the simple task of re-hooking the line back up the CSR people were flabbergasted and admitted they're powerless to actually do anything other than read what their screen told them. This reveals a deep structural problem within Duke Energy. Their CSR people are not even directly connected to the line managers who assign work orders for the crew! In effect, all the CSR folks do is act as agents of reassurance-- apologists, for the flub ups of the line assigners.

By the next morning our power was still out. I considered calling the police but this was not that kind of emergency, though a citizen arrest of Duke Energy seemed warranted. I contacted several local political reps and they got involved. The NC Utilities Commission took our number but they never called back. In the end. The same crew that unhooked us returned the next day-- 26 hours later, and explained that they communicated the need to rehook the house to the second shift but the second shift blew it and even altered his comments about hooking the house back up. This fellow was a sub-contractor who was surprised at how poorly organized Duke Energy was about such a simple procedure.

For example, their 8am assignment was to cut some tree limbs rather than restore power to my house and he questioned their priorities. Meanwhile, at our home, our cold foods went bad, I had lost a day of work, and we feel these damages deserve reparations. When I inquired about how to pursue this, I was told I would have to go through the same CSR folks that screwed up so consistently on the re-hook issue. Catch 22?

There are obviously two huge Duke Energy problems: Duke keeps bad records of house service needs and fails to have proper assignment quality control for their subcontractors, and the CSR department is totally ineffective and unaccountable for their own misleading statements. Anyone who refuses to divulge their own ID number or name, which is necessary for purposes of accountability, should not be trusted. Is this any way to run a business? Lost foods, lost day of work, anger and frustration at dealing with CSR people who act and sound like a computer recording, difficulty getting a hold of anyone who would take responsibility and initiate a solution to a simple problem. Duke Energy is the worst bureaucracy I've dealt with. They are bad for my blood pressure.

My complaint is not about any specific incident that occurred but rather a pattern of Duke Energy in trying to steer its customers towards paying their bills over the phone or online rather than at a physical location/payment center. Duke Energy does not provide its cash paying customers with a respectable payment center throughout all of Spartanburg, SC. Instead, it has two payment centers located within gas stations or mini-marts to accommodate these customers. These payment spots are often congested with store customers and located in out-of-the-way locations.

Duke Energy would rather its customers pay a $3.50 service fee for residential accounts or a $12.50 service fee for business accounts to have their bills paid over the phone. What a racket! How can one of the largest public utilities be allowed to get away with not providing a convenient and safe place for its customers to pay their bills? Power is not a luxury but a necessity. Even the local cable company, which is nowhere as large or necessary as Duke Energy, has a local payment center for its face-to-face business transactions.

I called again and was told that I may have a power box problem so someone was sent out. Naturally, no one found anything and they told me that I may have a power drain and I needed to have my landlord check it. I called him & we arranged for him to come out on a Monday & check it. The Saturday before, my mobile home caught on fire, and I lost nearly everything I had in the world. The fire department said it looked like it started in the bathroom, but since the bathroom and kitchen shared the same wall & wiring, it was debatable. They determined it could have been power surge.

This will not help me now, but it may help someone else. I moved into a mobile home in December 2002. I lived alone, was gone from 7:30AM to 5:30-6:00PM every weekdays and only turned my furnace on for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. I'm a cold weather person so it didn't bother me. I nearly dropped my teeth when I got my first bill, $178.00. I called and was told that I should keep my thermostat at an even temperature, then it was because of Christmas usage (I didn't have a tree), then it must be because December had 31 days. I finally hung up. Supposedly, it costs less to use it than to keep it off? It didn't make sense to me so I waited until I got my next bill in February for January.

Same circumstance, but this time, the bill was $240. I called again and was told that I may have a power box problem so someone was sent out. Naturally, no one found anything and told me that I may have a power drain and I needed to have my landlord check it. I called him and we arranged for him to come out on a Monday and check it. The Saturday before, my mobile home caught on fire and I lost nearly everything I had in the world. The fire department said it looked like it started in the bathroom, but since the bathroom and kitchen shared the same wall and wiring, it was debatable. They determined it could have been power surge.

I paid to have services restored on 5/20/10 with a $1000 US postal service money order at a payment center. The $1000 was more than due on bill, but because the banks had closed, I had no other option with a 2 years old in the house. When I called 2 days later to get the $500 refund, I was told I had to wait 30 days before making a request. Then I called back on the 28th of the same month and was told the request was submitted and it would be 7-10 business days. Not a word from them after 10 days, so I emailed them and was informed I had to submit a receipt. It was processed by my bank. I paid with a postal money order so I called and asked for a supervisor.

After holding for over 10 minutes, a supervisor answered with an attitude and stated that she would put in the request but I needed a receipt from where I paid my bill. Now if I hadn't paid the bill, I wouldn't have power and it shows I have a credit. Now I don't have a receipt because after my services were turned back on, I didn't think I would need it. They are quick to ask for your money and disconnect your services, but when you need your money from them, they make your jump through hoops. I need to pay my mortgage and that was part of my money. So why can't I get a refund? The supervisor was laughing and really made me mad that I had to deal with people like this over my money, not theirs. My house payment is late.

I asked about getting a power pole light installed at my residence. They said that I would put a stake where I wanted it and tie a rag or some tape to it. The direction of the knots would be the orientation of the light. I told her I would and I wanted it out over the road. I put in the stake and pointed the knot towards the road. A guy called from Duke to verify and I told him I had the stake in and the knot out towards the road. He came by and placed a white thing at the stake pointing towards the road. Thought it was covered.

I came home the day they installed the pole and the light was oriented almost 180 degrees away from the road. So I called and told them it was not oriented in the correct position. She read from the paper work that she had "light to be out over the road." I came home two days later and they had rotated it only half way to the road. So I called again, told them they could put it where it belongs or take out the pole and light at their expense if they did not want to do things right. I pointed the orientation that the light was supposed to be at from the beginning on the ground a the base of the pole and called them to tell them it was there. The lady said they had probably been there, was going to check, put me on hold and disconnected me. I came home and nothing had been done.

In March, I had a bill from Duke Power for $165.00, which I intended to pay in April. They sent me a letter saying I had a returned check for $300.00. First of all, when my bill was only $165.00, when I advised them that I did not even make the payment on my account yet, they argued with me and swore that I did. I asked them what check the payment was made from, they advised me Fifth Third Bank. Again, I advised them I never even had an account at Fifth Third Bank and my account is at Suntrust and before Suntrust, it was at Woodforest. Nevertheless, they said I would have to pay not the bill amount of $165.00 but of $300.00 for a payment I never made. So before I got ready to make the payment on the account, I called and got a representative on the line who told me all I had to pay was $197.00 and change. I told her the automated system said $300.00, she advised me that the automated system was incorrect. This was on a Friday.

Over the weekend, I attempted to pay the bill. Again, I spoke with a customer service rep and she told me to pay just the past due balance. I again told her the automated system gave me an amount of $300.00. I paid what the young lady told me to pay. The following Monday, they came and cut my lights off. I called and spoke with a manager and he told me that I did have to pay the $300.00 payment. He apologized to me for the misinformation and waived the reconnect fee. I paid that amount and they cut the lights back on. I received a new bill due on 05-21-2010 for $209.20, which I planned to pay on Tuesday 05-25-10. On Saturday, 05-22-2010, I got a letter from Duke Power that says I have paid my power bill unsatisfactorily and that they are now requesting me to pay a deposit of $365.00 in addition to my regular bill amount.

My husband has been out of work for over two years and has just started working again. The returned check was not even mine. If they research this, they will see. So I am not sure if it was a misapplied payment or what, however this is the first time my power has ever been disconnected and it was disconnected because two representatives told me the wrong amount to pay, on two different days. Now as of today, my light bill is over $700.00 because they have added on a deposit. Do they not know that it is a recession? I feel that this is unsatisfactory treatment of its customers. In reality, no one can live without their lights so the bill is getting paid. Is it getting paid on time? Probably not, but before my husband was laid off, it was paid on time every month before August 2008.

They are capitalizing on people's misfortune. What else can a person take? I guess I should give back my house, tell them to cut off the lights and say forget it! Me and my family can go live somewhere else. Sometimes things like this can be the difference between life and death for people that are going through so many things in their lives.

I just moved into my apartment. One bed room is 830 square feet by the way. I stayed there for a total of 3 nights, none during the day time. There is no washer dryer connection and I have never turned my thermostat on. It's off because my apartment is in the back and it always stays cool. I have never used my stove. I got my first bill and the amount was $140.00. I called Duke Power and no one was willing to help explain what was really going on. They just used their normal script they use when someone is disputing charges.

No one was willing to send anyone out to re-read the meter. They were all about telling me I had maybe done wrong which is nothing. I had a maintenance guy come and check my apartment. When I showed him the bill, he was amazed. He read my meter at about 30 days and said: "This month you have only used 113 KW. Last month they billed you for 1552 KW. Your usage really states that you are not running and using any power in this apartment. For the month I'm looking at a light bill in the 20's." Now, how can a person in a one bedroom go from using 1552 KW to 113 KW the very next month and he is never there? Duke Power is a total rip off and can get away with it, because they are the only electric provider in the area. This has to stop. It's not fair to charge someone for what they didn't use and then not even give the means the correct what is wrong.

I was late on my bill, I didn't notice the disconnect notice on the bill, one of their employees came to disconnect, he said he knocked but he didn't, I have 4 dogs they would let me know, the whole thing was so sneaky. I told the guy give me till 5pm the end of the work day and I would have it taken care of it, I needed to go get some checks from people I work for. I'm self employed, anyway they cut it off I called to have it turned back on, and they said someone will be there ASAP, that was sat morning, it's now Monday at 2pm and still no electric. I know I was in the wrong for not paying on time, but I've lived here at this address for 13 years, is this how you treat a customer?

If I treated people like this I wouldn't have any business, my wife and kid spent the weekend with nothing, and it was in the 30s in the morning, I want Cinergy back. I can't wait till I can afford solar so you can buy back my overpriced energy! What kills me is the kept saying just like today someone is on the way, sad thing is power went out in Vevay in sat May 8th 2010 and my town was swarming in dick energy trucks. I had 3 in my yard, I ask they guy named Ryan on the phone, to dispatch one of the people from one of many trucks save the customer some money by getting someone who is already in front of my house, but that's not how it works I was told, I hate ** energy. Good day.

On 4-15-2010, my bank withdrew $142.32 from my account to pay my Duke Energy bill. The next day, my bank erroneously paid this same amount a second time to Duke. Upon learning of this, I contacted Duke and asked them to reverse the second payment electronically. They refused. They said they would need to cut a check for the excess, which they did. However, they did not mail the check. Two weeks went by and they had still not mailed the check. In the meantime, the lack of funds caused by Duke's adamant stance to hold my money caused a whole cascade of bounced checks with large service charges attached to them. Duke still refuses to give me my money back and I am now faced with eviction. I am a 70-year old great grandmother just trying to survive. I don't have much chance against a giant like Duke Energy, but I am going to go down fighting. I don't know what I'm going to do. I just hope that someone somewhere will see the inequity involved in this and intercede on my behalf. Duke has been the most callous and uncaring company I have ever experienced in my 70 years.

Duke Energy has actually robbed my family and I this week. In a time period of two weeks, I have paid them a total of $550.00. I make $12.34, and most of the time, I don't get 40 hours a week. My husband is not working, so tell me, how do you maintain a home and family paying a light bill like that? Not to mention a child and other bills. Now, after paying all of this, they gave me a big hassle about a transfer. I've had had 2 opened accounts with them for 4 years. They tell me today that I can't have two opened accounts in my name. My mom's lights are in my name. I asked when this change occurred. They say since we've been with Duke Energy. Keep in mind, I've always paid on 2 different accounts. I asked why weren't customers told. They had no answer, but to say I guess it was overlooked. That's crazy.

I honestly can't maintain for Duke Energy. There has to be a law against this. I make the company I work for money every day by going to work .They have meetings about all the millions the company is making. So why am I suffering? After working and making a little, I give it right back. Paying bills, paying bills, I'm sinking. Someone help.

I move across the street from my old house. I call to get my lights transferred. I add my husband on, they then stated to me we could because he owe a bill out of another and stated we never live any where but South Carolina we've been married for 10 years. They say, the bill is from 2006, it when told them it couldn't be him. They then told me they had to different birth dates.

They had me to fax them proof I did that. It wasn't good enough. They now want tax papers I fax that. It still not enough. Every time I call, they give me a hard time. I'm really upset. Please help, we don't have 1900 to pay someone else bill. We are poor people. They also mail me someone else information, then told me to throw it away.

I'm a customer of Duke Energy since August 2006. Always paid my bill on time. In a couple of months I did have some problems and end up paying late some times. For this reason, I tried to save some money and was not using much electricity so reducing my bill of 186 (median bill) to lower 71.77 (with all the taxes), so is a drastically reduction for this month of February. For my surprise they put 240.00 (mandatory deposit).

Due to my economic situation, now that I have reduced my bill, they put me more out the balance. And this deposit is not necessary, (they say that the deposit is required because they supply the service to be paid later) so charge me a deposit of 73 is ok. Like a house when you rented it, it's the same situation and they don't charge you 4 times in a security deposit.

And they doing that with a lot of families, this should open a class action. This got to be stopped. this way our economy will not recover.

Our power bill went from $250 a month to $500 a month for the last three months. Of course, Duke Energy doesn't acknowledge any problem. It has to be our problem. They suggest we shut off our breakers to check for issues. Our home is always cold since we keep the thermostat on 68. We cut off all lights and we aren't there from 9-7 everyday. Our bill is higher than our business, where we stay all day. You feel like you couldn't win with Duke if you wanted to. Terrible customer service. But why do they need to have good customer service, they have the monopoly. So unfair.

I recently addressed an issue with my energy bill doubling over the the past three months. Customer service rep stated it was due to the weather and heat being on. I advised rep. that I have a room heater and I don't turn on the sir or heat. I have been using Duke Energy for 4.5 years and my bill stayed under $100. I am paying over $200 a month in utilities for a small two-bedroom apartment, one-story apartment at that.

Duke Energy is such a ripoff! They can pretty much charge what they want to and get away with it. They raise the rates and we're just supposed to take it! Can't someone build an alternate power company we can go to?

Duke Energy has to be miscalculating energy consumption, misreading meters, and misunderstanding customer service. My one-bedroom apartment is in a multi-family home located in an area of Cincinnati called Oakley. The home is older, and the gas meter is in the basement, while the electric meter is outside. Two of my bills this winter were estimated due to the "key" not working that my landlord has assured me has worked since he bought the home. Duke, obviously, was estimating the gas usage at an extreme amount.

My bill went from $175 one month to $204 the next month (both on estimated gas readings). When the bill was delivered to me for over $200, I contacted customer service and was given a canned response of "estimated based on last year's usage" and "It's been an extremely cold winter." Ironically, there were three separate occasions where my street experienced a power outage during the large snow storms in February, and yet, my energy consumption was higher? How is that possible?

Finally, after calling and escalating the call on four separate occasions, one rep was kind enough to reduce my bill by $20. This past bill cycle, I read my gas meter the same day that the meter reader visited the house (the key worked this time). The gas reading was the same, and I expected to have a reasonable and fair bill.

To my utter disgust, my electric consumption doubled! My heat and stove are gas. There is not a washer and dryer connection in my house! How in the world did I double my electric consumption? According to Duke, it was read and not estimated. By March 17, I have to pay Duke $234 for lower gas usage and double electric usage. It doesn't make sense, but I'm glad for them that they were able to price gauge me to death this winter.

For the third month now, I have had an extremely high energy bill. I did a lot of research and thought at first, it was me and we were not "conserving energy" and we were not be wise about the use of our power, so I paid the bill. Next month, I received a bill, just as high, and I thought hmm, all of these tips from Duke is not working. Wiring was checked, washed clothes in cold water, etc. So this month, I get my bill again, and it actually went up. Wow!

I called Duke to find out what is going on, nobody is home during the day, the temperature has not been that cold (because the weather was the reason for December and January's, now we are in February it is has been the coldest month again, interesting!), I keep my thermostat on 67-68, there were some days that were warmer and my heat didn't run as much, and other days I turned off the heat. I know I changed a lot of things as they had requested me (and everyone else to do) but yet my bill is still extremely high. Well, this time it was because I was taking showers in the mornings and not evenings, it was because I turned off my heat, I just need to adjust the thermostat and never turn it off, and of course the infamous "you need to get your wiring checked again".

Well, I was obviously not satisfied with that answer, so I found this number on this website to call the Utility Commissions. I couldn't dial the number fast enough. Well, I guess sometimes you don't realize how dumb you are until you do stupid things. I talked to them and sure they called me back just to tell me, we can have your meter checked, but it is probably something that you are doing to cause your bill to go up that high. Do you really think that the NCUC will actually do something about Duke Power when they work hand in hand? Sure they can check my meter and say "o yes, your reading is right", and why wouldn't they, where else can I go? Who else can I turn to? They approved the bill to state that Duke Power can go up on our already ridiculously high light bills, but now, you can't prove it (and who would you prove it to?). Something is wrong with Duke energy and there is nothing we can do about it!

There are 100 counties in North Carolina, 93 of them have an alternative electric company. How can we get Rowan to give us the option to choose? Even if I had to pay the same price, I wouldn't want to stay with Duke Energy.

I can't get caught up on my light bill, I am steadily 2 months behind and having to pay right before the cut off date, and this is going against my credit, which was already struggling due to the economic status. Does it matter?

Duke Energy is crazy! I moved into a two-bedroom town home in August of '09. Well, my first bill was $75.00 which I thought was all right. The second month of being here, it went up to $85.00. I was like "OK, maybe we used a little more, but that was still alright considering it was Duke." In the third month it was $97.00. I was getting kind of heated at this point because I know when I leave out, I unplug things and I cut my heat off until I get in. Anyway, by now December has come in and the bill is $137.00.

Okay, no problem, just stay under $150.00 and I'm good. So sooner than I spoke those words, January hit my ** in the face with a bill of $261.00. What the **! Oh no, I went around to my neighbors' house asking about their bills. Theirs had gone up to but just to like $185.00, in which still nobody has a high bill like mine! So, I called the Dukes and told them they needed to get someone out here, because the meter dude must be drunk when he comes to work and he's not seeing things right.

I asked the customer service rep how could my bill jump a hundred plus dollars in one month! We all know what she said. They bill higher in the month of January because of the weather. Then, she said they like they go off of whoever resided here before me. I didn't want to hear that nonsense. I told her I wanted a tech to come out and investigate. You never know someone could have been stealing it. I wanted to make sure. Anyway, she told me that I would have to pay for an electrician to come out, because it sounds like a problem with the wires in the house! The only time Duke will come out is when they disconnect you. Babies can be in the house, your house can be on fire, and they will still read your meter or clip you.

2/19/10 at 4:58 p.m. I'm in my two-story home with my children cooking dinner. I just came home 30 minutes prior from work and school. It's freezing outside and it's winter! I hear someone on the side of my home. I go outside and it's the disconnect guy. I told him, "Wait, it must be some mistake. My bill isn't due until 3/1/10." He says, "OK. Well even though I just disconnected your service, I'll wait for you to give the company a call in the car." Nevertheless, I call Duke Energy speak to customer service and the lady tells me that by accident my power was cut-off! I said, "It must be an accident because my bill isn't due until 3/1/10!" Customer service tells me that someone ordered for the power to be cut-off and start a "new service". Someone gave the wrong address. The address next door is vacant, and not even close to mine! Moreover, she continued to tell me that even though it's their fault I cannot have my services restored until $208.75 is paid. Ok, that's my bill that's due on 3/1/10. I said to this woman, "Can I speak to a supervisor?"

Consequently, the meter guy is tired of waiting and doesn't look at me and pulls off. Oh let me guess it's 4:58 p.m. It's time for this guy to get off work, so he doesn't give a hell if I'm without power! I'm trying to flag this guy down while still being on the phone with customer service! I've been a loyal customer of Duke Energy since 2001! Never in my life has something mad that my blood pressure got so high! Then, the supervisor tells me that anyone can call in over the phone to start/stop service at any given time. My question to her is why anyone can call in about a residence to change service if the individual who already has an account doesn't call, especially when you have to give a Social Security Number and other details of an individual! This makes no sense. This company has to take responsibility for such careless mistakes!

Now, I'm sitting in the dark with food on my stove, and I cannot dial out on my home phone. My cell phone is dead. The time is now 6:42 p.m. here and this company doesn't have a way of telling what exact time someone will be here to restore my services! It can be 3-4 hours. There's no way for the company to radio its employees. This is ridiculous! Hate is a strong word. I hate this company if I was able to restore my services with someone else they would be with one less customer and that would make me proud! As a result, the supervisor tells me she's sorry. No, you work for a sorry company dear! Ever year the energy cost is going up! Wow! I have no choice but to sit and wait with no heat!

Since I came in my apartment, my first bill was estimated. It was noted on the bill that they did not read the meter. Okay. The bill was $137 which I paid right away. In January this year, they said they read the meter, but my bill came in as high as ever.

I live in a one small bedroom apartment. You can't tell me that I use that much gas, something is not right. Today is Feb 18 2010, my bill came in the highest ever in my life since I started paying gas and electric, at $474, again it was estimated they did not read the meter. My last bill was $334. This is how they make money and they are killing me. Now, my next step is to move.

Shocking enough, there was a message at the back of the paper stating that, "the gas charges on this bill have been estimated because of the weather condition." Well, I don't really get it to be honest. This company can make you cry. It is hard even to pay any bill you would think and with this company just charges any amount they feel like and if you are late, they charge you also a late fee.

So since they don't read my meter and charge me whatever, I don't know what to do. I was charged a late fee on my last bill because I couldn't pay the whole thing. It is not my bill because they don't read the meter. I wish they can change how they do business. Unfortunately, I am not the only one. Many customers are complaining of the same, and they not certified.

I received my bill in January and it was $350.00 more than it has ever been in the 3 years I've lived in my home and also about an estimated bill for February that was also unusually high. I called after I got the January bill and questioned the bill and was told to take a reading myself and if there was a difference they would credit me and that they would also review my December bill (which was only $250.00) and my February bill and if there was a big difference between the two I would be credited.

I read the meter, submitted it and waited for my February bill to see if there was a credit. I got my February bill, no credit but it's with an estimated read for $512.00, another huge bill! I called Duke Energy to see if there was a problem and was told flat out it was because of a change in the weather. I knew that wasn't true because our weather in Cincinnati in January was unseasonably warm and I explained this to them and the fact that I have lived in my home 3 years and had never had a bill that high and their excuse was still the weather.

I questioned them about the meter read because 4 years ago I lived in a small apartment with electric baseboard heat and was once billed $180.00 for one month when my bills were only around $60.00 a month there. They were willing to look into it and found that there was a mistake and credited me $120.00. This also happened to my mother-in-law in January. She was charged $220.00 for a small one-bedroom apartment and they were totally unwilling to work with her.

They told me once again that it was the weather and that was that, denying any wrongdoing on the meter readers part. I questioned them about why I had an estimated meter read and they told me due to snowy conditions they didn't want to send any readers out so they estimated the bills, which was totally unfair to me and everyone else. They told me I could read it myself so I did and I will read it myself from now on.

I received my current bill this month and it is $200 more than it ever is. I am really upset about it as I know very well we are careful with our usage. I asked them to come check my meter and I stayed home the entire day. They said they came out but that is **. They never came but sent out a letter saying the reading is correct. So today I was out walking and here comes my neighbors on their golf cart. The lady said, "Tammy, how much was your electric, if you don't mind me asking?" Then she proceeded to tell me that everyone on our street's electric bill was $150-$200 more than ever, including her elder mother who lives in an extremely tiny house by herself. Our electric bill is a lie and more than we can afford.

My girlfriend and I woke up this morning, around 10:00 am to our electricity having been turned off. Our bill was late. We were shut down. I understand that. We were out the door by 10:30 am to try and get our electricity back on. Today was my payday, and I had to go pick up my check. We stopped by her mother's work to use her phone, and my girlfriend called them.

She has been sick these last couple of days, and didn't feel like dealing with the ** but she was a trooper and called them right away. This was around 11:20 am. The gentleman wasn't very friendly and he wasn't very helpful; then he proceeded to tell my girlfriend that our bill was for $100 dollars more than what our statement was showing. When she called him on this, his "computer went down" and when he came back on the line, we were mysteriously right. Imagine that. However, we still had to make a $65 deposit (he was never clear about what this was actually for), a $25 re-activation fee (for turning us back on).

We just wanted our electricity turned back on. So, armed with my entire paycheck of two weeks, we went to go pay for it. We ran into some speed bumps there that had nothing to do with Duke, but we ended up at my mother's work to see if she knew how to get to the company or knew of any other places we could turn in our money so we could get our electricity back on. It is the middle of winter, after all, and my girlfriend is sick. So being without electricity is out of the question. My mother offered us another solution, and she called Duke from her workplace, which is a big company "no-no" for her, but she loves us. Anyway, after speaking to another person on the phone, they told her that because it was "after hours", they were going to have to charge us an additional $50 "after hours" fee. ***? After hours? Seriously? It was only 12:15 pm in the afternoon.

By this time, my blood was boiling. My girlfriend could only cry, and I wanted to strangle the big wigs. My only comfort was knowing that in the end, heaven has no room for selfish money grubbers. I know where they are going.

Anyway, they told my mother that our payment had been accepted and that they would be restoring our electricity in a couple of hours. We ran our errands, then went home and waited and waited and waited and waited and then we waited some more. Frustrated, we made several more attempts at calling them. They told us that there was an 8 hour window, and that since we made our payment at 1:20 pm, (Wait a minute! We made our payment at 12:15pm) that since our payment was made at 1:20 pm, that it would be as late as 9:15 pm before our electricity would actually be restored. So we waited and waited and waited, then it got dark and we waited some more.

Then it started to get colder and we waited some more. 9:15pm rolled around and our electricity was still off. Our final attempt at getting our electricity restored was around 9:20 pm and my mother made the phone call, as our phone runs on electricity. The last woman my mother talked to, was the only friendly and helpful person that day. She admitted that our payment was received at 12:20 pm not 1:20 pm and that the 8-hour window they spoke of was only a very loose translation of the actual time frame, which really went all the way to 7:00 am the next morning, and that we should definitely have our electricity restored by then, if not a bit sooner.

I feel like we were pressured to hold up our end of the bargain, but they were not to be held accountable for anything. My girlfriend, tired from weeping all day long, physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted, finally went to bed around 10:00 pm. Our electricity was finally restored at 11:00 pm and I'm madder than any hatter over this whole situation, and as far as I'm concerned, the powers that be, the big wigs, the money grubbers, can all speed up their trip to hell.

I know that nothing will every come of this vent. The little voices are never heard, but somewhere deep inside, I feel just a little bit better knowing that I've shared this situation with someone.

I questioned how long will they keep my $200.00 because I was prayerful expecting the deposit refunded to me in February 2010. The agent said that I will not be receiving the $200 deposit because of my payment history. They could hold the deposit up to three years. I was so disappointed because I thought that I had been paying on my account on time. The agent said I was late 6 times. I was paying on the bill based on the bills I received thinking that I was right. I explained that I knew that I have been paying on my bill on time and did not have anything to do with when they were posting the payments. I am unemployed and really need that money. This is ridiculous. Please help me to get my deposit back.

On December 4th, my father died. My parents have been married 52 years and have had service with Duke Power since they were married. My Mother is waiting on everything to be finalized to get her beneficiary benefits and SS benefits to be clarified. She called Duke Power on December 28th and reported the death and to tell them she would be late with her payment. Instead of compassion and understanding, she was treated like a criminal and was told she would have to reapply for service in her name and pay an extremely large deposit. She is 75 years old and on a fixed income (even less of an income now.)

I am appalled that after over 50 years of service with Duke Power and also her very precarious emotional state that she would be treated like this. Their rates are increasing, the service goes out more frequently and they have been known to stop power to the elderly, which has caused death. Where is their personal service?

My family has delt with plenty of these issue with Duke Energy, but I have found assistance with the Utility Commissions Office. There phone number is 919-733-7328

When I sign on to the Duke Energy website, it says I have $96.31 due every month. I happily pay that amount, but then Duke turns off my electricity. Apparently, every month I have been paying money to an account I had 4 years ago. If the website said the amount due on my old account was $0, I would have figured out that I needed to add my new account. Instead, the "amount due" stayed at $96.31 (more expensive than I would have paid).

When I found this out on November 9th, I was told that if there was ANY error on Duke Energy's part, I would not have to pay the security deposit. Either way, two different individuals said they would contact me before I would be billed with the security deposit. I received no such phone call, and was charged with the security deposit.

I contacted Duke Energy November 30th and informed me they had made no errors because the website is maintained by a 3rd party. Therefore, they accept no responsibility for me paying the $96 on the old account every month (which should have said $0). What else can I do? I can't live without electricity right? If they were any other company, I would very easily and quickly switch providers. Rarely do I ever have to complain, but this company is very poor at accepting any errors on their part and following through with their word.

Well me and wife split up and she moved out and cut electric off in house but not to the garage so I called duke up and had them turn it on but left the garage electric bill in her name.I have been paying it in her name.so last month I opened the bill and it was for 1400. I called them and they said she owed it from the other house she moved to and didn't pay I told them that the garage is on the property that I'm paying for and told them to cut off her name and put mine they said you are still married and I would have to pay it to get electric to it.I told them how did I get electric in the house if she owed so much and they really didn't have a answer for that.so i told them well when they cut it off I would just call and get it in my name and they said the past due would have to be paid.

Well we had a awful experience with Duke Power today, about a month ago they said we needed to pay a 450.00 deposit on our buisness account,because we have been over 8 days late on 2 or more occassions in the last year , we have been at this location since 1985 and we own the commercial property, I did not like the idea , well after a couple of calls they said we could separate this into 3 payments of 150.00 on 3 monthly bills , well last month we paid the extra 150.00 and the bill on time, our bill says current charges past due after Nov 3 ,well today is the 4th and they cut it off, as god is my witness I did not owe any past due bills except the 241.00 due on Nov 3 and the extra 150.00 this month, we honestly mailed the payment and they should have had it , they cut it off about 2:30- 3:00 pm , we called in and paid bill in full 241.00 a reconnect fee 25.75 and this month deposit of 150.00 and next month deposit of 150.00 almost 600.00 total , they said your power will be on today , we waited till 7:00 pm still was not on and very dark by this time, we called and they said it would be on by midnight , well they evidentually are confused between what day and night means ,

But here is my issue with this ,to sneak in and cut a operating buisness's power off with employess working and all , no warning no notice no nothing just bang and its off. They have a monopoly and not much of any customer respect , we have several computers, fax, security cameras, Air compressor and many electronic devices that make our buisness run, thousands of dollars worth of hard earned money invested, and again I am 46 years old and have never had a power disconnect in my life, Duke Power Friend or Foe , you tell me , In my opinion you should not be able to do this 1-day late , Duke says since we made a verbal agreement on the deposit to be paid in three monthly installments of 150.00 , that they can cut power off next day , remember we are a buisness that owns our property and been there since 1985 , paying the deposit was bad enough, shutting a mans buisness down 1day after due date , this is concrete evidence that these guys need some regulations , yes we need to pay our bills I definitely understand , but this is wrong any way we look at it .

We are calling tomorrow and see if the payment we mailed was recieved , if it was maybe we have a legal case . If nothing else aggrevate them as it did us, this was enough to make me boiling mad but others need to aware of the monopoly that they are running, do whoever, whatever, whenever, however, with no respect at all Duke Power. Here is my solution in buisness power bill regualtion , you must be at least 30 days late before power could be cutoff ,if power is to be disconnected you must confront the buisness office with a notice and give them option to pay , if they must charge them a fee of 25.00 or so well be it, but they cannot sneak in on a 1 day late and cut it off and run . In these trying economic times this is not fair buisness practice .

I honestly forgot to pay my power bill. When I returned home at approximately 10am today, I did not have power in my living room, to my washer/dryer and refrigerator. I thought I blew a fuse so I called maintenance and found out that my meter had been tagged. So I go to the Duke Power office to pay my bill and the was not an office anymore but just a place where can pay a variety of bills in one place and they wanted cash only. So I went back home to call Duke Energy on the phone and they suggested that I pay the bill and the $25.75 reconnect fee. I am not arguing about the balance because I was willing to pay the entire amount, I just do not believe that I should pay for a reconnect fee when I had power except for the living room, washer/dryer and refrigerator. I am not understanding what I am paying for when technically nothing was disconnected. They told me that I still had to pay because I was "supposed" to be disconnected and I should be "happy" that I still had power. I was told that the technician must not have disconnected me fully, but I don't feel that I should be punished because of that. I can't understand why I need to pay the reconnect fee and still paying for the normal rate of using my power too. Maybe pay half but not the entire amount. That just does not make sense to me!

I am going through the same thing as almost every person on here. Just to let everyone know. I am filing a complaint with the BBB on these matters and going to the Attorney General of Indiana. If anyone would like to do this as well, this would help the issues at hand.

They are requiring me to pay a new account deposit of 250.00 dollars. I would not have to be getting a new account if they had not put a person in the wrong location. I've have been told they will not waiver the deposit and there is nothing I can do. I will be out of power because I can not pay an extra 250 for their mistake

I have had to move due to a fire and again have duke energy. Each time they charge me a huge deposit before I can get service even though they still hold my deposit from the current apartment. This house I moved into 2 months ago and when I called to have service turned on again another huge deposit even though I had a zero balance they told me they'd mail the old deposit back to me they sure did minus almost all of it for the final bill lol. The new house my 1st bill for not even a full 30 days was 196.98 and when I had services connected I was told the average bill in this house was between 50 to 70.00 a month, wonder if that was with just the rats living here for its only my son and i and he is in school from 8 am to 3pm and i;m at work til 5pm .

Now I get my 2nd bill and it was 200.00. This is crazy I dont have 350.00 to give these morons just because nobody reads the meters. Each bill states estimate which means nobody physically comes out to read the meters. I'm not into the business of paying for thier estimates anymore.

believe the Electic companies should be regulated, i realy do..Having electricity is a necessity for most, and to charge such outlandish deposits is beyond me. The email i recieved said something to the effect, they take into consideration the size of the dwelling and do there "calculations" to form a deposit profile. ok, im moving into a 800 sq ft small apartment that is 3 years old, the property management told me that the average tenants monthly electric bill is between $20 - $45. HOW in hell, does duke energy come up with $250 freakin dollars in there "calculations"? im going to pay the deposit, again, what choice to i have , but i promise duke energy this, when my 1 year lease is up, ill go the last couple months of not paying a bill, ill let them deduct the deposit in the end.

I moved to Cincinnati from Chicago, IL. My experience with Duke Energy was very bad. I lived in a one bedroom apartment. The first bill that I have received during the summer was for $94.00 even though I rarely used electricity. I then mailed a letter to Duke Energy saying that the meter reads must have been wrong, then the next month somehow the bill amount dropped down to $74.00 even though I used much more electricity that the previous month. This gave me a feeling that these guys are billing residents just the way they want.

My refridgerator ice maker defrosted and in 90 degree temperatures it was very HOT inside. What is the problem? After four phone calls they still didn't get it right. What a lack of communication. This is not the way consumers should be treated after paying their bills on time and expecting the same service in return.

Just recently I went online to pay my electric bill. I paid, without understanding that I was signing up for E billing. A month passed and I did not receive a billing statement from Duke Energy. A service man from Duke Energy came to my door and handed me a disconnection notice. I told him that I never received a bill or it was lost in the mail. I paid the balance that day immediately.

The next month, I happened to open my home email, which I rarely do, and I receive my bill online. It stated that I must pay a 320.00 deposit! So my bill was a total of 524.00.

I called Duke Energy and was told that since I received two disconnection notices in the past that I must put down this deposit. I told the supervisor that I made the mistake of signing up for E-billing and rarely check my home email account. She didnt care. She kept saying, There is nothing I can do. She also stated that after a year of paying on time without a disconnection notice or if I move then I will get my deposit back. I bet in a year, I dont!

My service has never been disconnected in the past. Charging me this deposit just makes money tighter for me and is ridiculous!!!!! This company is taking advantage of consumers and since it is the only electric company offered in my county what other choice do I have?

By the way, I went online to try to change my billing back to paper billing and I cant figure it out. I am pretty computer literate too. I think this company corrupt and horrible!

I have been a Duke Energy customer for over 10 years. I recently received a notice from Duke, stating that I am now required to pay a $145 deposit, because of what they call unsatisfactory payment history. In addition, I am a single father with full custody of 2 young boys aged 8 and 12. I am currently receiving unemployment payments, as I was layed off from my job working at the BMW plant in December. Times have been tough, but were scraping by. Until now. I have been a couple of weeks late on my power bill a few times in these past months. Never to any extreme, and its always paid and service is not suspended.

How can Duke Power expect me to pay the $208 bill by Aug 25th?? ($63 + $145 deposit). I have had just enough to pay my normal bill (around $65 each month). $145 may seem like a small amount to some, but to our family, it's the difference between possibly losing my home and making it or not. I called customer service and after 3 or 4 times of can I speak to your supervisor, I gave up. The same speech each time. Sorry, nothing we can do. They gave me some local assistance numbers, but when I call themthey can only help with food or whatever.no help with this. What are we to do in this economy where we are dealing with mindless robots who have NO heart or compassion for the problems our current economic situation is causing??

I simply can not pay this extra fee. They give the option of providing a guarantor to secure the account, but EVERYONE I talk to, family and friends all do not meet the requirements of having not been 1 day late for the past 12 months. Any comments from anyone on this matter from any others with this experience would be welcome. What do we, as citizens of South Carolina, plan to do about these problems? Are we really at the mercy of monopolys like this? I truely hope not.

i am very much in hopes that a whole lot of people have been bullied in this way by duke and we can do a class action. i am in process of searching for people who have gotten desperate and paid bill for duke that were not in their name, just so they could get utilities turned on. in ohio, that is fraud, and duke energy knows it. his bill was attached to my name and social. which they attached it. has been in collections for over 1 year. of course, i never was notified of this. i owed my bill, but hey, not his. talking to pucu, they gave me a number to duke mgnt. they made a note on the bill that i was not responsible. to me, that is not good enough!

I am just infuriated with Duke Energy! I am originally from Utah and moved to Indiana just over two years ago. Since being with Duke, I have never had an electric bill so high as since my move here! I have called several times about having my meter reread do to my shock over some of winter bills I have received in the time I have lived here. I don't think that they have truly ever sent anyone out.

What has finally intrigued me to write this is when I spoke with my cousin. She told me that her bill was 350 dollars for the month of July. She was in tears! She lives in a small single wide mobile home as I do and has electric as well as gas. This was for her electric bill alone!

This is close to what I pay every month between November through February even when I take drastic measures to cut back on electric. Their only response is that its because its colder so I am apt to pay more! Bulls+*t!! My son, that is in a very small mobile home has had extremely high bills with Duke as well. We all have proof of this and have all complained in which is always the same answer as if everyone that is employed there is programmed to give the same response. I think Duke needs to be fully investigated because as long as they can rip people off they will!!

I have been having many problems with Duke since I moved into this address. They kept estimating my bill sending me on my bills saying they were unable to get into my house to read meters. which is untrue my back door is always unlocked because of kids running in and out.. I have called several times to have them come out and read meter. I had one no show, I have called my reading in twice and once online in the year i lived at this residence.I talked to several reps on the phone each one had a different note on my account one saying there was a lock box on my door so i feel that the person reading the meters seen that on my account and didn't even bother to go to back door which is suppose to be noted on my account in the first place. I had my gas turned off for several months I talk to rep on phone they gave me the date when the bill had to be paid. and they disconnected me anyway. Now they said they undercharged me 2,000 dollars they took my large deposit. I have tried and tried with this company to cooperate but they are always right and we are wrong.

I have been a Duke Energy customer for over 9 years. For the past year, I have been among the many Americans unemployed. Though I have been diligently seeking employment, it's been to no avail at this time. To add insult to injury, I recently received a letter from Duke Power stating they're charging me a $115 deposit because of my payments for the last year, i.e. the time I've been unemployed. Calls to them were of no use whatsoever! Though they arbitrarily charged this to my account, they claim to be unable to remove it!

This is not right and I'm sure there are other Duke Power customers dealing with unemployment that they're doing this to! Something to help myself and others being penalized by Duke Power for being unemployed! I've written my State and Federal representatives about this. I also plan to report it to at least one of the customer advocacy departments of the local news stations.

In recent months, I've had my power cut off and have had to pay in full plus a reconnect and a $274 deposit. A mere month later, I get a letter on the 13th saying I need to pay $92.06 on the 10th or my power will be cut off again. The letter is dated for the 8th. I tried to explain that I never received a warning letter and I just got this today, but they want $174 plus another reconnect up front. Customer service is unapologetic and apathetic to this problem. They claim they send the note on the bottom of the bill they email me, but I never saw the email.

Last year, Duke Power sent Davies Tree Service to clear some limbs that were in my backyard that was touching their lines. They butchered the trees by my back fence by just gutting the middle of them and knocked out power on the entire block for two hours in the process. There is a large Cherry tree in the yard that was double-trunk, growing in a V-shape. The tree service cut down one entire side (or trunk) of the tree instead of trimming the limbs out of the way. The remaining trunk has started leaning precariously toward my neighbor and our homes. It leans more every month and is now at about a 45 degree angle toward dwellings. Starting six months ago, we began calling Duke to come out and take a look at it and finish cutting it down in order to avoid property damage and possible human injury. The first three times we called, they always said they would send someone, but never did. We decided to become more active and started calling once a week, each time being told someone was coming.

Finally, yesterday, they sent the same guy that cut down half the tree and knocked the power out. He is accompanied by what I guess is a member of his crew. My roommate overheard them through an open window say that they "weren't gonna tackle that" before knocking on the back door. They actually ask which tree we were talking about, to my roommate's astonishment, since the huge leaning tree, 20 feet high, is not 10 feet away from them. They then proceed to tell him that the other trunk they cut off was not the same tree, but a separate tree that was growing one foot away. The wood from the cut trunk is lying right in front of them and my roommate asked why the bark is the same if that's the case. They say the other bark is "a little tighter" and show him a cherry branch that has shed its protective coating and is white. Pointing up to the existing branches, my roommate identifies one that is identical to the one this guy is holding in his hand and he still insists it's an oak tree. He informed us he will not be removing the dangerous tree because it's not touching the lines. Of course, it's not; they cut it half down that was, leaving a dangerous half tree to contend with.

I called Duke Energy again and I was told, once again, a supervisor will finally call me. Today, a person named Henry **, a vegetation supervisor called me and said that Davies Tree Service told him it was two different trees and they are not going to finish cutting the dying leaning tree because it ain't within 20 feet of our lines." We are at our wits end. It is the same tree. They totally damaged it by cutting half of it and leaving the other half leaning and dying, and a dangerous situation for my neighbors and me. Had they just cut the limbs off near the lines, it probably would not be this unstable or leaning. If this thing comes out of the ground, it will cause some major destruction to homes and possibly human life. I think it would only take a heavy snow or wind to bring it down. Mr. ** has not come personally to look at it and neither has anyone else from Duke Power, but they send these people to totally destroy the tree and don't care enough about their customers but to send the same person. Of course, he doesn't want anyone to know what a horrible job he did. We just don't know what to do. We're really afraid this thing will hurt someone.

We have been raising a family of 5 on unemployment. We did not pay our bill for the month and second month the electric was turned off. I called at 5:10 when we got home to have it turned on. They charged me 100.00 to turn it back on after hours (10 minutes) a reconnect fee of 25.00 the bill of 236.00 and a security deposit of 74.00. The security deposit was supposed to be included in the 434.00 I paid to turn it on. Then, I get a bill that says my security deposit is 225.00. And, I will not get that money back if I do not pay my bill on time for 9 months. They charge this much because they can. And, they know there is not a single thing we can do about it. After talking to the woman and explaining to her that the other woman said the deposit was 74.00 of course she looked in the "notes" on the account, and magically I was wrong. I totally give up...... They know we need the service so they are going to charge whatever they want for us to have it. I am going to install solar panels on my next house!!!!

WELL NOT SH** SHERLOCKS THEY HAVE BEEN CHARGING ME OVER 3,000 WATTS OF USAGE FOR THE PAST 4 MONTHS AND I CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY THE WHOLE BILL WHICH IS $440 EVERY MONTH!!! But they still won't help me. Customer service won't help me.....the payment arrangement place won't help me because they can only set me up for a 3 month payment arrangement which puts my past due amounts I owe at $473.98 PLUS whatever my ridiculous current charges are (around $440). That is almost a $900 bill for the next three months, but nothing is going to be resolved and I am going to be stuck right back in the same situation that I am in right now. Does anyone know what the purpose is of this company? Dont they have trained professionals to help their customers figure out these problems? I have 2 children and I am currently 8 months pregnant with my third and I CAN'T GET ANY HELP!! Someone really needs to investigate this company. They know that I do not have a choice but to figure something out to pay these bills or I won't have electricity in two days. This is BS

We have used Duke Energy for over 10 years now. Within the past few years we have struggled especially in the winter to make a full payment each month but always make the minimum required. We have a huge energy bill due to having a old house that isn't extremely energy efficient. Last month our minimum to pay was over $400. We just couldn't make that but could make half of it so that is what we did. I called customer service to let them know the dilemma and I was given an extension to pay the other half the following week. We made the rest of the payment as scheduled. No problems.

Now this week I recieved the bill for May '09 and it is over $1000. That amount is partly the carry over balance from last month which is around $540. plus new charges another $130. or so, but there is a service deposit charge of $430. I'm thinking "what is a service deposit charge?" All the bill says is there is a service charge being charged due to credit status. So when people struggle to pay and in these hard economic times Duke Energy charges customers an extra $430. for no apparent reason.

We have always paid the required amount by the due date for over 10 years and one month we have an issue we are charged extra which only makes getting all caught up even harder. Duke knows they have a monopology on power and they do whatever they want! They won't explain what the deposit is for or the reasoning, they just charge it and if you want power, you just pay it without questioning. It is astonishing and shameful! If I could choose another company I would.

I am a single mom of a beautiful 8 month old baby boy. I had recently moved apartments and called Duke to stop my serivce at my old apartment and switch to my new one in January, it is now almost May and my electric got cut off tonight. In shock, I called to figure out why. I had just made an $80.00 payment not even two weeks ago! They said I paid the wrong account. Apparently the bills I had been recieving at my new apartment were for the past apartment. They never shut the service off at my last one, so I've been being charged for almost 5 months of SERVICE I DIDN'T USE! And, because I have been making payments to the "wrong account" they cannot credit my bill and I will have to pay over $400.00 to reconnect. This is beyond crazy and I don't feel I should pay for their mistake. They are taking advantage of the community.

I've been with Duke Energy for 12 years in my current home and at other addresses before that. In the past few years I have been struggling to pay my full bill due to job loss and medical bills. I generally fall behind in winter months and "catch up" over the summer, but try to make some kind of payment each month.

I made a $500 dollar payment last month. I recently received a disconnect notice and called Duke to make a payment on Monday 4/20/09 -I planned to pay $600 on the $1000 I owed. They told me the system was down and took my number saying they would call me back when the system came back up. They didn't call back on Monday and shut off only my gas but not my electric on Tuesday. I just thought the hot water heater was broken.

I finally called Thursday and they wanted the full amount plus reconnect fees etc. I don't have the $1200+ that they want now. I can't believe they won't accept $800 or $900 (which is about all I could pay now). The operator said she couldn't connect me to a supervisor and there were no other options but full payment. She implied that I had no intention to pay because I didn't call back until Thursday. The fruits of a monopoly...

I have been with Duke Energy For over 2O years. Lately our bill has ranged from $220 to $320. I was late a couple of times throughout the winter and had one disconnect last month for and they have have always gotten there money regardless. This month they sent me a letter telling me that I have to pay a 350 for a security desposit! I just payed them $486 last month to reconnect! Now my curent bill with the deposit is $659.00!

I should not have to pay them over $1000.00 in less than a month, just to have power! I think that they are taking advantage of people. I must pay the $350.00 or my account will be disconnected. This will not keep my account current. I am a single mother and I can't afford to pay them this much money every single month!

We were without power during the cold cold winter months for one night only, thank God but I don't have the money to pay them a $350 deposit. Therefore I am threatened with another disconnect.

After recieving a disconnect for my electric,I contacted Duke Energy on Thursday and spoke to Audrey to set up payment arrangements,to continue service. She stated that I would need to pay $277.00 before I could begin to set up payment arrangements.Having lost my job due to economy-I stated I would pay that amount to get arrangements in place as to get past due amount current. Friday my boyfriend went into the Duke service center to pay $300.00 on the account and the person in the center told him, they would need $831.00 And that there was nothing noted in the account that I had spoke to anyone, and further told him I must have lied to him about the amount! They needed $831.00.

I proceeded to call Duke again they stated there was nothing showing I spoke to anyone on Thu. They told me to contact a consumer credit agency that they work with to get a payment plan in place.I contacted them,they cannot get me in for an appointment until May 7. I contact Duke AGAIN, they tell me sorry there is nothing we can do, we need $831.00 or your power will be shut off MONDAY! So much for helful customer service. Also I questioned why there were seperate charges for delivery and generation on each bill, and they told me is was costing me OVER half of my monthly bill (which average $550.00 Dec-Mar) just to get service from the pole to my house. I told them that was rediculous, how could anyone afford these kind of charges. And they responded I know, I don't see how either [bad] customer service and come Monday I'm in the dark and no heat.

After losing my job, now this I am an emotional wreck!

I paid my bill on time they accepted the payment and still shut my service off. I had a newborn baby at the time and they didn't even care. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told they couldn't help me and they wouldn't put me through to a supervisor. So now I have to pay the extra added fees plus my bill. I have never dealt with a company such as this in my life.

Being without power when I had a newborn baby at home!

We have been with Duke Energy For over 23 years our bill usally runs anywhere from 96 to 160 it just jumped up to 220.23 and yes I'll admit we have been late ever month and have had disconnection's but they have always gotten there money regardless. They sent us a letter telling us we have to pay close to 350 for a security desposit! which is bulls**t!! We have to pay almost $700 on 2/27/09 or it will be disconnected, I'm on disability I only make $750 a month someone REALLY NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEM DOING THIS TO PEOPLE!

I was just informed by Duke Power that I am going to be charged a security deposit of $345.00 on my next month's bill due to late payments and diconnection of service. I imformed the Duke representative that my power had never been disconnected and after reading my payment history to this individual,finally she was able to see that my service had never been disconneted, however the Duke rep. informed me that I was still going to have this new charge added due to late payments, even though I have gotten caught up and presenlty I'm current .

Yes, I have made some late payments recently due to my difficult financial situation. I had to close my business in July of 2008 due to the economy, I had to borrow what ever I could just to pay my utility bills, even though they were late at times. My house is in foreclosure and I'm in the process of working w/ the housing partnership in Charlotte to stop this, I'm getting close to be able to save my house, I'm counting every penny and my wife had just come up w/ a budget to help us get back on our feet. Now after hearing about this new charge, even though it's only $345.00, this is alot of money for me and my family right now,it's putting me in a tailspin it's going to put me right back to paying late to Duke Power w/ this extra fee added.

I spoke w/ a supervisor regarding the removal of this security deposit and explained my situation, however I was informed that it would not be removed. I'm doing everything possible to get caught up w/ everything after finding employment, however it seems that big companies like Duke Power don't care about those who have been affected by our poor economy. Is there anything else I can do, or your company do to have this security payment removed. It seems as if I start to get back on my feet and then some big company just knocks me back down. A response to this would sincerely be appreciated.

The $345.00 extra payment is going to cause late payments again on my Duke Power bill, which will cause a snowball effect and make getting back to some sort of financial stability nearly impossible

this is crazy.my light bill has never been this high.my light bill for 2 months was 672.98, my bill got behind due to i was on layoff. i dont understand how the get there numbers to bill me when you dont ever see anyone check it.i called them and asked about the bill they tells me that the bills is suppose to go down in MARCH, what about now. sick and tired of the high bills.

now iam juggling back and forth from tring to keep my lights on and keep a roof over my kids heads. they dont even care.

i har to move to a two bedroom where i dont pay gas but in order to move i had to sign a contract that i would pay 210.00 a monthly. i could move had no other choice.`i was told that my bill would 277.00. now i get a letter saying that my bill would 289.00 a month. i call to ask what is going on. thst just said every body bil has went up and i got a dial tone

i call back i was told the same thing but she try th tell me about what was going on with duke. she siad she not working for them any more. i cant give her name just in case she still work there but i think because its so hard out here for every one they should find away to a lease help the ones that need help. wit a bill over 1,000 i would tell veery one dont get on pip. they help you and hurt you at the end. thats i am stuck with a bill and cant get no help

This month they again did the same thing. cut my electricity and asked me leg and arm. I contested that my bank show a payment on 1/14/2009. They claim to have sent a letter this month which I have not recieved. This company is doing something fishy! They are using monoply of the market to double charge and abuse customers. I wish I can live without electricity.

In a difficult financial time I am being victimized by Duke energy. I must have paid them over 600 dollars in the past 3 months of which 300 dollars are extra due to reconnection and deposit. The bill has been sky rocketing lately as well.

Due to the ice storm our power went off. I reported the outage on their online website and then made a motel reservation. Later that day, they emailed me three times letting me know that my electricity had been restored. I canceled my reservation and returned home only to find NO ELECTRICITY. When I called them they couldn't explain why they emailed me and could only apologize. By this time ALL area motels were booked solid. I had to spend two nights in single digit temperatures in my house.

I have made numerous complaints about the poor job that they do on trimming the trees in my neighbor hood. If they had done a better job, then when ice and winds come through, there would't be as much damage. Ironically, they look for the cheapest bid on out sourced tree trimmers which hires what appears to be ILLEGAL MEXICANS who do a poor job in tree trimming.

EVERY tine a major outage occurs, DUKE ENERGY raises asks for a rate increase and it has always been approved.

DUKE ENERGY smugly tells you if you don't like it to file a complaint with the Indiana Utilities Commission. DUKE ENERGY pays the Political Action Committees to help elect their politicians who then appoint the members of the utility commission. Thus 98% ENERGY.

Their fat cat officers earn in excess of 1.4 million dollars per year while DUKE ENERGY continues to crap on the little people.

It is winter, and the home has electric heat. Duke power said they are not responsible for what might happen to this infant in a home with no heat. Duke power was assured that full payment would be made later in the week. They still refused to turn the power back on, even with an infant in the home.

My energy bill was $289 for month of Nov'08. I called Duke, they sais it is what u had used. I spoke to my apartment and the maintenance guy helped me open/close some vents.

And he told me that next time Bill will come less. I did not complain at that time. I thought it was my mistake. But for Dec'08 my bill was $337. I went mad. I called my apartment, they told me Duke has charged double to all their consumers. And even if you fight with them, they will not listen and at times they will be very rude. Exactly thats what happnend. And plus they told me that this is what you have used and received bill for that. I lived in Minnesota for 3 years and I never faced this bill. I wish I had any way I could change my electric service company. Why we have monopoly for such basic utility?

We are expecting a baby in Feb'09. We are already under financial stress. My company is not doing too well in this economy, So we are also under mental stress. And such bills are killing us every now and then. I just dont know how I will get any help.

A customer service representative told me that normally they try to get the power back on after a fire as soon as possible, and that it normally takes one to three business days for them to do so. It is now the end of the business day on Thursday, December 11th, and I am told today that it may be an additional 1-3 days somehow for the power to be turned back on. My apartment unit was not at all damaged in the fire, and my landlord has told me that the inspector has declared it habitable on the same day as the fire -- there is no reason my heat should ever have been turned off, and there is no reason that my power should still be off.

Displaced from my residence for several days unnecessarily, without any offer of putting me in a hotel, etc.

I have been having problems with Duke for some time now. The estimated readings were bad enough but I lived with them.I even learned to stop compliaining when those estimate readings were wrong and my bill was more because of it. The break came when I attempted to get information on a house that is owned by someone I know but had been abandoned. My first call to them was to find out if this place could get services. It was left empty by the last resident but they didn't call to get things turned off. Of course they never paid any bills.

I was automatically treated like the person who wasn't paying the bill for this place and little to know real information was given to me. Each time I called I spoke to someone different who didn't see my previous call information about that house. Even with it being a new person on the phone because of the issue with the house I was again treated like a criminal.

This went on for a little more than forty five days before I made progress. The only reason progress was made in the least amount is because I told a supervisor that because of the incompetence of duke it is a strong possibility by son and I will be homeless. At the end of that conversation I was told that I would have to put in a deposit of over 400 dollars. I asked why would I even have to use a deposit in the first place let alone the amount of the deposit. I was told for previouse account activity. I was so flustered at that point I just hung up the phone.

Later when i called back in to get move information on this deposit and if there was anything else I needed to be made aware of I was told that some one is using my social security number with their own name to get services on. When I asked who it is I was told they couldn't give me that information but that I needed to go fill out a police report. I advised them that in order to file a report I needed information to go by. That didn't impress them at all, still didn't get the information. I called the station just for kicks only to find out from the officer that it's a matter of public record whose getting services at certain address'. I explained to her that I didn't know who was doing this or where they are getting the services on. She directed me back to duke and stated that I let them know if they want a report then they'll need to release some information. Still no luck, however they did send me a fraud form with persons name, address and length of time at their current address. Only it was sent to my address but addressed to the thief. While I recognize this is great for me because now I have the information I need. This is another example of skrewed that system their using is and how bad their customer service is. Here is the kicker to my problems.

I finally moved into the house went back to the old apartment for one final look to make sure all is out and the space is clean. Well I walk into the apartment and all of my utility services are still on. I called into customer service and again was told there is nothing they can do for me. The fact that someone told me that I could get me services off on a saturday was bad information and should not have been given to me. I was then told that they can only turn services on or off from monday through friday. I then tell her that even on my last bill that was mailed to me there is a notation that the final service for this address was on saturday. She tells me that it was a general list and they only turn them on/off durning the week day.

My small business has taken a hit with the rising gasoline and poor economy. My business basically is only open 4 days a week, but my energy bill has climbed to 400 per month. When I questioned the rising costs, I was told that it is what it is and that is what I was using. I explained that no lights etc were used 3 days or week so why is it so high. I just kept getting, it is what it is.

Anyway, I was behind on my payments, received a few dis-connects notices, but always made sure I paid what I needed to keep from dis-connect. This month I received a bill for an additional 780.00 because I had 3 disconnect notices sent. I called and was told that since I couldn't pay on time, I had to pay another 780. Now, if I'm struggling with 400, how in the heck can I pay 780.00 additional? How can someone just tack on charges like that? It makes no sense. ANyway, I can't pay the additional 780. I was on the phone speaking to 3 or 4 different people. They refuse to take it off, refuse to give me more time and told me that it wasn't there problem if it closed my business. Real nice people.

Duke Energy has been applying Elizabeth's monthly payments to wrong account, then disconnected electricity for non-payment, and refused to waive the reconnect fee even though they admitted receiving all payments. Pattern of willful misconduct by Duke Energy.

Significant embarrassment; cost of reconnect; inconvenience.

I recieved my bill from Duke energy on October 5, 2008. I had a past due balance of $498.00 the date due was October 27th or I would be disconnected. Knowing that I would not have that amount until Nov. 1st I called the customer service line to see if I could get a few more days added before they disconnected me. I was told it was to early for me to set up payment arrangements and I would have to call back when I recieved the actual disconnect notice and they would work out something for me. I recieved the disconnect notice on October 27th stating my power would be shut off on October 27th the same day I recieved the letter I had been waiting for.

My husband did what I had been told and called Customer Service again to set up the payment arrangement I had been told would be no problem. The agents were very rude and said they could not do anything I was already scheduled for disconnection. I explained what the other agent had told me when I called about the origional bill and they basically called him a liar and said they would never had told me that.He explained to them that he requires oxygen and we cannot have our electricity shut off or this would be detrimental to his health. The agent just kept saying no no no no over and over again every time my husband started to speak. He ended up getting very upset and I am sure used some choice words with the agent, he was in a state of panic.

He was told in not a nice way that he needed to pay the past due amount before the shut off or the entire bill would have to be paid of $785 and was hung up on by the agent. The next morning we ran and took out a small loan for $500 to pay the bill before they shut it off. When we got to the payment center we were told it was still going to be shut off because now the entire amount was due, even though we had not been shut off yet! We still paid all we could $500. I called them as soon as we arrived home I was again told I would have to pay another $201 or we would be shut off on October 29th. When I asked to speak to a supervisor to see if they could sort this all out I was transferred to one of the rudest men I have ever talked to in my life!

He told me there was nothing they could do and again told me that they would never have said any of the things they had indeed told us, and now conveniently my origional phone call at the beginning of the month did not show up in the system so I was now lying about that even though yesterday they knew about that call, now it no longer had happened. I again explained everything we had been told to do by thier agents and was told sorry, I should pay my bills on time! And WAS HUNG UP on, is Xavier 5 years old!

For almost 12 months, I have been receiving a bill from Duke Energy (formerly Duke Power) for $8.11. I was shocked the 1st few times but after a few months I figured it was an error. However, I didn't call Duke Energy to question the bill. I simply paid what was sent to me. Well, around the 12th month, a couple pulled up in my yard and said they were here to check the meter. Ok, no problem. Well, a few days later, I received my bill online for a little over $1400. I almost passed out when I saw this!

I immediately called Duke Energy to ask about this and how they determined the charges. The representative advised me that they 'estimated' my usage for those previous months. That alone confused me because how can you estimate that and bill me for it. Well, I advised her that I couldn't pay that full balance and I surely couldn't live without lights. I was almost in a panic attack at this time. The only thing she could tell me was that I could make payment arrangements once it's past due. I advised her that I needed to handle it now because I couldn't wait until cut off time and still not have the amount of money they were requesting.

Well, I called the Utilities Commissioner and spoke with a gentleman there. I explained my situation to him and he said he would call me back. After 2 days, he calls me back and all he has to tell me is that he made arrangements with Duke Energy. Needless to say, I was looking for the charges to be cleared. I was even willing to take responsiblity for some of the charges because I could have called and inquired about the low balance. He advised me that Duke Energy agreed to break it up in installments. Now, I'm having to pay an extra $100 per month ON TOP of my monthly charges. I'm paying almost $300 a month for power!

To top it off, if I don't have it on the due date and I need to extend the date, they won't do it because i'm already on a payment arrangement! Last month, my statement came on a Tuesday and it stated that I had the next day to pay or my lights would be off on Thursday. I literally had no money to put to this and tried to get it extended 2 days. They told me no and if I didn't have my payment in by 5:00 PM my lights would be cut off. I had to go to extreme measures just to keep my lights on. I couldn't afford for them to cut them off because I would have to pay the full bill to get them cut back on.

This has put me in a great economic strain! My fiance is out of work and was hospitalized before losing his job. I've been paying the mortgage, car note, utilities, and everything else with my income. Having to pay this extra money is hurting more than ever. It makes it even harder when the due date comes along and I need just a few more days until pay day to pay this and they won't work anything out with me. It's been a great strain on me mentally. It's hard for me to be at peace and rest knowing that I don't have this extra money to pay just to keep my lights on. I was very disappointed when Duke Energy wouldn't take responsiblity for their faulty equipment. They put it all back on me as if I did something wrong. In a weak economy as it is today, I took that $8.11 electric bill as a blessing and thanked God for helping me during this time. But instead, they go back and guess how energy I used and expect me to pay it all!

I am writing for my Daughter, who, just like the previous young person's story, had a very old bill (from 2004/2005). My daughter shares the bills with a roommate. They have been paying Duke since January, 2007. They were on a payment plan and paying very regularly, even more then required, to get caught up. Then yesterday, out of nowhere, the old bill that was just in my daughter's name was added to the account, with an additional 189 of late fees.

Now they are being told that if they don't pay $2300 by November 6, 2008 the gas and electric will be turned off. My daughter has a 7 month old baby. She works very hard and has been very diligent with the utiltities bills. She has spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get Duke to work with her on a payment plan (since she has not re-niged on her current agreement and has paid more then she was supposed to each month) - but Duke Energy will not work with her in anyway. At this point, the credit system is so tight, my daugher can not get a loan to meet this bill. I don't have the money to fund it.

Duke recently disconnected our service for a very large past-due balance - a little over $2500. I was told that I had to pay the entire balance and have a zero balance before they would disconnect. They said they could take any partial payment whatsoever. I had to get a loan to pay the balance and I did so the next day - September 12, 2008. Although I was unable to get the loan, my parents were and I paid the balance - $2,552 and some change.

I was very happy because I had a zero balance and was starting over and that was a relief. Imagine my surprise when I get my next bill three weeks later for $517! Our usage was $168 but then there was a $25 reconnection fee, a $95 security deposit and $228 for a PAST DUE amount! The fee and deposit was unexpected, but I can understand it, but the past due balance? How is that possible? I called Duke and the lady said that whoever gave me the total before miscalculated and I have to pay that extra $228. If that's the case, then they could just say they miscalculated by $500 and make me pay that!

The lady said she would take what I owe and split it into 6 payments over the next 6 months and while I don't think that's fair AT ALL, I was going to do it, but then she hung up on me (I don't think on purpose - it was a nice conversation). I was on the phone either on hold or talking to her for nearly an hour. I don't want to go through this nonsense again. I paid my $168 which isn't even due until October 20th. Do I have to pay the $228? Any advice about this is very appreciated!

My power went out due to the effects of Hurricane Ike on Sept 14, 2008 at 2:20 pm. From this time I called Duke customer service to report my outage and to find out how long was it going to take for them to restore my power.

Everyday they would tell me something different as to when i can expect service; although I made several complaints that my toddler has severe asthma and uses a machine for breathing treatments, which is accompanied by electricity, and also the fact that my husband is an insulin dependent diabetic and have to keep his insulin cold in the refrigerator, didn't seem to matter to the people who was out restoring everyone else and left us for the very end.

My power was turned back on seven days later! My frustration and anger with about the whole situation can't even be put into words; but one thing I can say as matter factly is, they don't take their time sending me a high bill every month and they sure wouldn't take their time turning my electric off it the bill goes unpaid. I am a paying customer just like everyone else and I feel that because I sincerly have critical care in my home, I should've been restored a lot sooner then what I was.

I'm sorry that Duke ever took over Cingery because they have proven to be very unreliable but unfortunatly, I don't have any other choice but to keep dealing with this shabby company.

$200.00 worth of food went to the curb because it spoiled. Each day I had to take my child over my family house so he could have is breathing treatment.

I own a second home in Bloomington, Indiana, which receives utility services from Duke Energy. My primary residence is in California as indicated above. The following is an email exchange with Duke which will explain the issue: "Ms. H., unfortunately Duke Energy is a monopoly in my service area, so I have no choice about doing business with your company. The requirement to capture customers' social security numbers is Duke's policy, NOT Checkfree's, because Duke chooses to do business with Checkfree and negotiated its contract with Checkfree. Surely you realize that is plain for any customer to understand.

"Therefor Duke is free to renegotiate its contract with Checkfree to get rid of this absurd, outdated, and very dangerous requirement. If Duke cared about its retail customers, it would do so immediately. I've disenrolled from your online services and will have to pay your bills electronically through another service provider I use. Sadly, I won't be able to arrange an automatic debit, which I prefer, because of your outdated business practice. An automatic debit arrangement would have been easier for me and more efficient for Duke."

If I find the time and motivation, I'm going to report Duke's consumer privacy practice in this area to the Indiana Department of Consumer Affairs. Your policy (and it's yours, not Checkfree's) is wrong. I would appreciate it if you would elevate this issue to a decision-maker in your company. Duke needs to understand that people DO NOT want to provide their Social Security numbers to anyone, for any reason, because of the epidemic of identity theft in our country. People do not trust any assurances from any business that customer information will be securely protected, because such information is compromised on a regular basis. Read the news.

On Aug 4, 2008, at 12:10 PM, customerservice@duke-energy.com wrote: "Thank you for getting back with Tonya. My name is Michelle and I am an e-Bill supervisor. I understand you feel it is a violation of consumers' normal and reasonable rights to privacy but unfortunately the social security number is a requirement of CheckFree for enrollment in our e-Bill service. I apologize for the inconvenience. Mr. W., feel free to reply to this e-mail if you have any other questions and I will be happy to help you. Have a nice day!"

On August 2 2008 at 23:12:09 GMT-04:00 Steve Weiser wrote: Ms. S., thank you for your response. Checkfree does not need my social security number in order to perform their role in this process. They do not need to verity my identity or ensure that my enrollment is as accurate and secure as it can be. I'm not interested in using Checkfree for anything and was unaware they are involved. They should not be concerned about this. If my account is debited and the funds are good, your bill is paid. If not, then you would seek payment from me just as you would any other past due account. You are at no greater risk than a customer who mails you a check every month. Please have your manager contact me so we can discuss this a little further. Again, it is a seriously outdated and risky practice for any large company to require social security numbers from its customers. Among other things, I think it is a violation of consumers' normal and reasonable rights to privacy."

On Aug 2, 2008, at 5:09 PM, customerservice@duke-energy.com wrote: "Dear Mr. W., Thank you for contacting us through our Web site in regards to your e-Bill Inquiry. Mr. W., I apologize for any inconvenience. Unfortunately, you will be unable to enroll in e-Bill without providing your social security number. Our vendor Checkfree requires this information to verify your identity and to ensure that your enrollment is as accurate and secure as it can be. However, your account is already enrolled in e-Bill through another Web site. If you are unable to remember the Web site, please contact Checkfree and they may be able to assist you with this matter.

On August 1 2008 at 17:40:44 GMT-04:00 Steve W. wrote: I'm trying to sign up on your slow and cumbersome website for an
automatic payment plan. I am now getting a message as follows: "We're sorry. We are unable to generate an identification code for

your Duke Energy e-Bill service. Please click this address customerservice@duke-energy.com to send a message to customer service to resolve this problem.

Also, your online process requires a social security number. This an outdated business concept; I do not give my social security number to anyone for any reason, ever, due to the epidemic of identity theft. However, I did enter a 9 digit number during the above process, so that should not have generated an error message. I'm surprised that your company is trying to collect social security

numbers from its customers.

Duke Energy is collection consumers' Social Security numbers, which is plainly unnecessary for the business purpose they describe, and is an egregious violation of consumer privacy. Duke blames Checkfree, with whom Duke has entered into a business arrangement. Therefor Duke is free to renegotiate its business arrangement with Checkfree if Duke chooses to do so. Given the epidemic of identity theft, no business should insist on obtaining social security numbers from consumers, especially a public utility which has no legitimate business argument for doing so.

Duke energy is in the practice of estimating utility bills instead of having the meter read to generate an actual reading. I have rental property. Tenant moved out and the apartment was empty for 4 months. We always have utilites turned on before a new tenant moves in to make sure everything is working properly. We had the utilities turned on but nothing was used during this 3 week time before the tenant moved in and had the utilites put in her name. When I received the final bill it was ESTIMATED and an outragous usage amount on it.

The meter is on the outside of the house so no excuse to why the meter was not read. On the bottom of the bill it states to save money they are estimating instead of sending a meter reader to get the reading. Also, upon transfer of utilities into tenants name Duke stated they estimated that reading. How in the world can you estimate and beginning and final meter reading. The customer service reps are disrepectful and argumentative. I am in the process of moving forward with a complaint to PUCO. I have several tenants and properties where Duke is estimating bills instead of acually reading the meter.

This is very costly and expensive. Duke is providing a service and charging an estimated amount of bill for the purpose of overcharging the customer. This economic loss is in the thousands of dollars.

Our home was destroyed by floods 3-19-08. I called to have power turned off for safety. I also asked a final bill be created as we would not be moving back into the house.

Neither the disconnection nor the final bill were taken care of as requested. Our lives put in danger as the electric was still live and we were in the property trying to save items after the initial flooding.

When I called to enquire I was told not final bill would be created as our account was delinquent. I gave them the account number I had and the CSR argued that was not my account. I assured her it was as my name was there and I had made payments under my name and that account number. Allshe wanted to due was argue about whose fault it was my payments went to the wrong place.

I faxed her a copy of my account as printed from Duke's account page as well as electonic copies of payments made from me to the account. No further contact was made.

Today, 3-26-08, I rang and spoke with 2 other reps who again wanted to argue about there being 2 accounts with my name but not wanting to take responsibility to help resolve the issue. So there will still not be a final bill as requested and still showing as delinquent.

I am very frustrated in this company's refusal to take responsibility and assist in resolving an issue such as this. I need to get everything resovled, pay the final bill and move on to recover from losing almost everything in our home.

As a result of not turning off the power my life, as well as those trying to help me rescue belongings, was put in jeopardy. We could have been severely injured or killed as there was still quite a bit of water in the property and live electricity.

Secondly, by having multiple accounts the payments I made have been applied to the wrong account thus showing in whichever account is the coorect one that I am delinquent.

Thirdly, the longer the wait to turn off the power as requested 1 week ago, the more I will be charged. The fact the house is damaged I am afraid usage will reflect incorrectly and be more than actually used in the few days from the end of the last billing cycle and the day we fled the property.

Americans have to work more to pay bills and make everyone else rich. What an American Dream! You dont even get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Just going deeper in debt. Shame on the government not doing there job.