Since being elected to the House two years ago, St. Petersburg House Democrat Dwight Dudley has been an obsessed zealot in blasting the state's energy policy and politics, and in particular, Duke Energy Florida's business practices. And with just three weeks before Election Day, he's not about to cease and desist.The first-term Representative today introduced new legislation to mandate that electric utility companies in the state perform audits on customer accounts, and charge those customers the most advantageous rate, thereby potentially saving homes, businesses and institutions like churches millions of dollars per year.
Dudley, who is facing off against Republican Bill Young in an ultra-competitive state legislative race, said in a statement that, “It is an absolute outrage that customers depend on Duke Energy to provide them a fair rate — whether they're a home, business, church or government agency — and Duke will not do that unless they are asked. To find out that many of these customers have been over-billed by millions of dollars is just beyond belief. I'm going to put a stop to that.”
Last week, WTSP Channel 10 investigative reporter Mike Deeson reported that Duke has been charging small businesses and churches a much higher rate than they should be. He interviewed an energy consultant named Mike Handley who said customers should call Duke and request to be placed on the "most advantageous rate" and that the customer has a right to request an analysis of their bills for the last 2 years.
Handley told Deeson that he knew of 35 churches being overbilled, with over $2 million he recovered just from the clients he dealt with.
But Public Service Commission rules say that customers must call for a utility audit, rather than the utility itself, to determine the best rate for a customer. Dudley says that though some of this is due to faulty metering, he adds it's mainly "due to the complex nature of utility rates and billing processes, where utility companies don't automatically assign customers the proper 'rate class.'”
Dudley's bill will require the utility to provide any customer information as to the derivation of billing, the billing cycle, rates and approximate date of monthly meter reading, and to provide to the customer a copy and explanation of the utility’s rates and to assist the customer in obtaining the rate schedule which is most advantageous to the customer’s requirements.
Dudley was expected to announce the proposed legislation Tuesday morning. Undoubtedly it will get him a little face time on local television news, a nice kicker for the Pinellas Democrat locked in a tight battle for re-election against Young, the son of the late Pinellas Congressional legend, C.W. Bill Young.
Young and other Pinellas Republican candidates running for election or (in the case of Jack Latvala & Kathleen Peters) re-election have picked up on the anti-Duke rhetoric as the election grows near, as the energy company's policies have thoroughly alienated their customer base, making it an easy target as voters go to the polls.