Dominion Energy

According to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) website, their mission is to "assure all residential and business consumers access to adequate, safe, and reliable utility services at fair prices." Unfortunately, my experience tells a different story.

I am the owner of Casey Equipment Corporation, a business located in Struthers, OH. Thirty years ago, I purchased the Youngstown Sheet and Tube, an old steel mill that consumed a tremendous amount of natural gas and had a very large service line.

To reduce our natural gas costs, I installed a new, smaller line, trusting Dominion Energy to set the correct rate.

Recently, I discovered that Dominion Energy has been overcharging my company since the line was installed. My records only go back seven years, but during that time, Dominions overcharges were approximately 3,500% higher in service charges. I was paying $2,051.04 in service charges per month. My new, corrected service charge was $56.13, revealing an overcharge averaging approximately $70,000.

I pay two bills: one to the company that sells me the gas and another to Dominion to transport the gas through their pipeline.

When I brought this issue to Dominion's attention, they blamed the natural gas supplier, who, in turn, blamed Dominion. Despite the finger-pointing, Dominion retained the money they overcharged, claiming they did not have the authority to change my rate. Curiously, about six months after the rate was reduced to $56.13, I received a notice from Dominion claiming my rate was wrong, and my new rate ended up being $220.78. So much for Dominion not being able to correct my rate.

This situation is not isolated.

I also own an industrial park in Niles, OH, where I found that Dominion was overcharging us by approximately 863% over seven years, an overcharge averaging approximately $56,000. This pattern suggests that Dominion's overcharging is not a one-time mistake but rather their standard practice. If so, I wonder how many other companies Dominion is overcharging?

I contacted the PUCO to intervene and compel Dominion to issue a refund, but I received no satisfaction. I also reached out to Senator Rolli in Columbus, who represents our area, but my emails and calls went unanswered.

I understand the PUCO board members are politicians, and the chairman was recently convicted of fraud. I wonder how much Dominion donates to politicians and if their violation of the mission is influenced by campaign donations.

recently purchased new home, when I went to turn on electric service was told seller had turned off her account for a Fri date so Dominion could not start my "account" until the following Mon(which turned out to be a federal holiday, so it really would have been Tues). I asked if I would have service over the weekend (I was expecting movers all day Sat) and the customer serv rep assured me I would.

I asked why the accout wouldn't start until the following Mon, rep said they don't work on the weekends. I asked who to call if there was a problem and was referred to the customer serv number. What a laugh. Of course my electricity was turned off late Fri afternoon and there was no way to reach a live person to explain the situation to only the automatic phone system that had not been programmed for my kind of questions/needs.

Fortunately, a creative and daring neighbor decided to try the "downed powerline" option and got a live person who I could explain the problem to. I had power in 10 min thanks to the customer serv rep who understood my need for service and stepped outside the protocol to make sure I had electricity. I'm fortunate for the creative neighbor and the very understanding and helpful customer servicer rep, but esp fortunate that I didn't have family members that would needed electricity for medical needs or had stocked my freezer w/ food. When I set up the account I asked why the seller wasn't informed about the lack of weekend service for accounts that are closed on Fri.

The assumption was the seller had closed the account on line and there is no warning that this will happen - only if you call in to close the account. I had the option of contacting the seller but that involved contacting my realtor, who would have contacted the seller's realtor who would have then contacted the seller and we all would wait and hope that she did so. Interestingly, I ran into a similar issue w/ Verizon when setting up my internet service. Verizon asked for a copy of my radified contract(to ensure I would be owner at the time of installation).

The contract would not upload, so I called their cust serv rep, she explained why they needed the info and placed me on hold for a minute or two. When she came back on the line, she had called the seller and fixed the issue over the phone and I didn't need to do another thing. What a gift.

Would seem Dom Energy could give their employees the same level of empowerment for these kinds of situation. Very unfortunate that there is only one electric co.

Apparently, there was a system 'upgrade' during the summer of 2023, and Dominion has yet to address the repercussions. Being online with the computer led to billing errors, the inability to log in at all, repeated 'try again later' messages, and problems identifying the customer's login region or state, etc.

These issues continued for months. Calling and emailing Dominion's customer service resulted in a defensive 'it's not that bad' email. I reported Dominion's non-responsiveness to the SCC, and nothing was done there either. Do they have friends in high places, perhaps?

The mobile app isn't much better. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR USAGE ALERTS! It's a sinkhole you can't escape. After an unexpected billing spike (I handle three accounts - mine, my mother's, and that of a friend), I wanted to monitor energy usage for a few weeks.

Now, I can't deactivate the daily notices. I've tried dozens of times, get a text saying I'm unsubscribed, and then another message appears. The online account data indicates I'm not enrolled. I'm now on my second round of calls to customer service about this issue.

The last employee to assist me (she was excellent, by the way) said she had the same problem. With her access, she finally canceled the alerts, but we don't all have that advantage. The text message is merely an inconvenience, but the billing errors and website problems signal that Dominion account information isn't reliable.

It used to be a good company in the 80s and 90s. Now - not so much!

Apparently, there was a system 'upgrade' during the summer of 2023, and Dominion has yet to address the repercussions. Being online with the computer led to billing errors, inability to log in at all, repeated 'try again later' messages, and problems identifying the customer's login region or state, etc.

These issues continued for months. Calling and emailing Dominion's customer service resulted in a defensive 'it's not that bad' email. I reported Dominion's non-responsiveness to the SCC, and nothing was done there either. Have they friends in high places, perhaps?

The mobile app isn't much better. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR USAGE ALERTS! It's a sinkhole you can't escape. After an unexpected billing spike (I handle three accounts - mine, my mother's, and that of a friend's), I wanted to monitor energy usage for a few weeks.

Now, I can't deactivate the daily notices. I've tried dozens of times - I get a text saying I'm unsubscribed, and then another message appears. The online account data indicates I'm not enrolled. I'm now on my second round of calls to customer service about this issue.

The last employee to assist me said she had the same problem. With her access, she finally canceled the alerts, but we don't all have that advantage. The text message is merely an inconvenience, but the billing errors and website problems signal that Dominion account information isn't reliable.

It used to be a good company in the 80s and 90s. Now - not so much!