Call Rafael: Homeowner frustrated with AES billing

INDIANAPOLIS — Vickie Smith keeps a record of everything. She likes consistency and she wants to know what she owes every month.

She was surprised when her AES notice warned her to pay up or face disconnection.

“It didn’t sit well with me,” said Smith.

She was told she owed $851.46, or she could face a loss of service on Sept. 18.

“I kept telling them – I always paid my bill on time—I’ve never had a late payment in the whole time I’ve been with AES,” said Smith.

Smith said she’s been on budget billing for more than two decades and, most recently, was paying $222 a month. In February, she raised concerns about her bill.

“I called to find out why I had a credit. It didn’t make sense to me. They told me I was on the budget; I would be fine. I said, ‘Do I pay it?’ They said don’t pay it.”

So, Smith said she kept paying the monthly budget bill of $222, thinking she was okay, but she was not.

“I wasn’t happy, which is why I called Rafael for Help.”

I asked AES to review her case, and they did.

Under budget billing, the end of the year includes what is known as a “true-up” statement. It reflects what you owe if you use more energy than usual.

AES sent us a statement saying, “For any AES Indiana customer to remain on their agreed upon budget billing amount, they must pay that budget billing amount in full each month. However, she was taken off budget billing because the amount was not paid in full for that month. She was given a notice on her bill that we received her payments, but it did not add up to the budget amount, therefore she was at risk of being removed from budget billing. We have called the customer, and she is now set back up on a budget billing plan, we’ve worked with her to ensure this works for her. She has been communicated with and agreed to these measures.“

“So, what we agreed to is that I pay $500. Thank you, lord, I had $500 to pay towards the balance. They put me back on the budget. They told me that by the end of the year, I should break even. That’s all I wanted—to be on the budget,” said Smith.