El Paso Electric To Solar Unit Customers: ‘We failed. We admit it.’

El Paso Electric is getting some heat from customers of its Solar PV Incentive program. The utility admitted during a heated meeting Thursday night that it has been making errors in its billing process for months.

Kathy Ramsey was at Thursday’s meeting to get some answers. She installed solar panels on her west side home’s roof in June. Those panels were paid for in part by economic incentives offered through El Paso Electric’s program.

“We got a beautiful rebate,” said Ramsey, “but when we started the billing … it became a nightmare.”

Ramsey said that the first couple of electric bills after her solar panels were installed seemed too low. “The first one was for $5.02. I thought they must have made a mistake. Then the next bill came in and it was around the same amount.”

After three months, however, her electric bills stopped coming. “That’s when I started calling (El Paso Electric). The people on the phone just kept telling me they would look into it,” said Ramsey.

Ramsey said she didn’t hear from the company until last week. “That’s when they told me there was a glitch in my billing and that I actually owed them money,” she said.

The utility faxed more than $2,000 in back bills. “I thought, ‘Do we really have to pay that? How do we even know it’s correct if their billing wasn’t correct the first time around?'” said Ramsey.

El Paso Electric executives at Thursday’s meeting said solar customers would not have to pay for those back bills. Instead, shareholders would incur those costs.

“We have a responsibility to provide our customers with timely, accurate bills. We failed. We admit it,” said Evan Evans, Vice President of Regulatory Services and Rates.

The apology came a little late for Ramsey. “(El paso Paso Electric) knew there was a glitch in their billing. They knew there was something going on with solar and they didn’t tell us us, and I think that’s why everyone is so angry,” she said.

More than three dozen concerned customers were at Thursday’s meeting. Most of them also had billing issues with El Paso Electric.

ABC-7 asked Richard Fleager, El Paso Electric’s senior vice president of customer care and external affairs, why it took so long to tell customers there were problems with the billing process.

“We had to modify our system to accommodate new billing requirements. Those billing requirements are quite complex. We made changes to the system and it took about six months. Communication in this entire process has been less than stellar,” said Fleager.

The billing mix-up was not the only controversial topic at the meeting. Ramsey and others were also upset over new energy buyback rate changes that were passed last June.

Customers who produce extra energy through their solar units can sell that extra energy to El Paso Electric at a pre-determined rate. That rate recently changed dramatically. Customers at the meeting expressed their frustration with El Paso Electric. Some said they would never have installed solar units in their homes if they’d known it would take so long to recoup their investment. Others said they felt blindsided by the rate changes and that El Paso Electric did not do a good enough job of explaining the changes in a timely manner.

The utility maintains it notified the public by posting the rate information on its website. It also explained it has no control over the new rates, since they’re part of new statewide regulations that El Paso Electric is forced to comply with.

Stay with ABC-7 for more updates on this developing story.