SMECO is in receipt of the above complaint from the Revdex.comAfter careful review of the above account, SMECO has determined that [redacted] signed a one year lease for the address aboveThe lease was signed on February 7, to commence on February 18, and end on March 31, The lease was terminated on July 17, due to eviction[redacted] has past due electric service charges from the start service date to the eviction dateThe debt is owed to SMECO by [redacted] At this time, no adjustments to remove the debt will take place.Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.Sincerely,/s/ electronic signatureLaRaine H [redacted] SMECO Regional Services Director [redacted]
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered] Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:thank you I will write to the company to file a complaint thank you Regards, [redacted]
SMECO is in receipt of the rejection of its response to the above complaint from *** *** to the Revdex.com. We encourage *** *** to visit SMECO's Customer Service Center located at *** *** *** ***, Hughesville, Maryland ***, in order to review all records that we have on file regarding her account. If *** *** is not satisfied with SMECO's decision, she may wish to write to the Maryland Public Service Commission, Office of External Relations at * *** *** ***, Baltimore , Maryland *** or call them toll free at ###-###-#### to file a dispute.Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.Sincerely,/s/ electronic signatureKatherine *N***SMECOManaging DirectorEngineering & Operations Services
[redacted], I apologize for the delay in sending this. From the computer I had been working on, I could not type in this text area, and it would not allow the response to send without a message in the "body" as the error said.Please let me know if you have any questions, or need further...
May 2, 2016Dear [redacted]:We have received your complaint from the Revdex.com submitted on April 18, ID number [redacted], and we are taking this opportunity to explain our position regarding your comments.Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO), as an electric utility in the...
state of Maryland, is regulated by the Public Service Commission (PSC). In 1966, the PSC delineated the service areas for each of the State’s electric distribution utilities. SMECO was granted the area generally known today as Southern Maryland. The PSC also approves all of the rates and fees that SMECO charges. SMECO is in compliance with all federal and state laws, including, in part because of the PSC’s active oversight of our operations, the federal anti-trust laws.SMECO is an electric cooperative. As such, we are owned by the customer-members to whom we provide electric service. That includes you and all other residential and commercial customer-members, totaling over 163,000. SMECO does not have any stockholders and is not trying to maximize profits through our charges for service. We are a non-profit organization and are simply charging for the cost to provide reliable electric service to all our customer-members.We are governed by a Board of Directors elected by the customer-members. That means the directors answer to the customer-members, not stockholders. All rates that we develop to charge for service must be presented to the Board and approved by the directors as fair and reasonable before we can file the rates with the Maryland PSC.When we file a rate change with the PSC, the process involves a hearing to determine that the proposed rates are fair, just, and reasonable. In addition, the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, which is an agency that represents residential consumers in electric rate proceedings, weighs in on the rate filing. The process concludes with the PSC issuing an order setting the legal rates that SMECO is authorized to charge.That is the process that is in place in Maryland and most other states for setting public utility rates, and it has been used for well over 100 years to ensure reliable electric service at fair and reasonable rates around the country.You state in your complaint that the “delivery fees are supposed to be for establishing an infrastructure that is already in place and has been for some time.” That does not reflect the full circumstance of the basis for the delivery charges. SMECO’s distribution system does connect all its customer-members to the electric grid and SMECO has maintained those connections consistently over time. However, capital expenditures are required every year for the distribution system. To maintain and improve our electric system, we annually install new lines, poles, and transformers, and replace old ones. We upgrade substations, purchase vehicles and equipment, provide safety training to employees, make repairs, and read meters. In 2014, SMECO completed construction of the Southern Maryland Reliability Project, a $108 million project that completed a 230,000-volt loop throughout our service area. We staff a contact center, engineers, a billing department, and more. The costs for all of these services are covered by the Distribution Service charges.From 1999 through 2014, we grew from 118,000 customers to approximately 160,000, an increase of over 35 percent. It takes more than 12,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines to serve all of them. Additionally, the increase in the use of electronics (which continually become more sophisticated and advanced) in homes and businesses has increased the requirements for reliability and power quality in electric service. SMECO must upgrade its distribution system on an ongoing basis to meet its responsibilities and obligations.SMECO’s distribution system is a resource that requires ongoing investment and maintenance, similar to the ongoing requirement for building and maintaining roads for people’s transportation needs. SMECO works hard to meet this requirement efficiently and reliably for our customer- members’ benefit.SMECO provides its customer-members with very high quality service. For eight consecutive years, SMECO has earned the J.D. Power award as the top-ranked mid-sized electric utility in the East Region of the U.S.You expressed concern for low-income customers who may not be able to comply with the deposit requirements. Deposits are a necessary requirement when customers establish service. We are required to allow new customers to pay the deposit over three months. We also work closely with assistance agencies to help low income families that need help with paying their electric bills. In addition, we provide programs to help customers reduce their energy use so they can save money on their monthly bill.Electric customers in Maryland may select their energy provider, but no electric utility provides distribution services in a different utility’s service area. Densely populated areas have more customers per mile of line and more customers to absorb the cost of providing electric service. Southern Maryland is mostly rural with a few areas that are considered population centers. In fact, SMECO was formed in 1937 as a cooperative because the neighboring investor-owned utilities refused to provide service to the rural areas that would not provide a return on their investment.You noted in particular the distribution rates we charge. SMECO recently completed a rate case at the Maryland PSC and the result is that those rates increased in March for the first time in five years. That is only the third rate case SMECO has filed to increase its distribution rates since 1994, a period of over twenty years. The rate case set SMECO base distribution rates at approximately 5.1 cents per kWh for an average customer. By comparison, PEPCO has just filed a rate case with the PSC requesting to set its base distribution rates at 5.7 cents per kWh for an average customer. BGE is currently in the middle of a rate case at the PSC where they have proposed a base distribution rate for the average residential customer of 5.2 cents per kWh.As you note, we also charge for the energy used by customer-members. This has been a great story for us recently. Here we have more than offset the increase that just occurred in our distribution rates with energy rate decreases over the last couple of years. Right now in April, the average cost for energy is 8.1 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). In May, the summer season starts, and the energy rate drops down to 7.4 cents per kWh. That is lower than the rate was all the way from September 2005 through May of 2015. The summer rates we have had last summer and this summer are back down to levels last seen over a decade ago, and are lower than the average energy rate for residential customers of our neighboring utilities, [redacted] and [redacted]. SMECO works hard to provide good service at fair and competitive rates. What you are paying for your electric service is a good value.Very truly yours,Eugene B. Vice President of Rates and Energy Procurement
SMECO is in receipt of the above complaint from the Revdex.com. After careful review of the above account, SMECO has determined that [redacted] signed a one year lease for the address above. The lease was signed on February 7, 2015 to commence on February 18, 2015 and end on March...
31, 2016. The lease was terminated on July 17, 2015 due to eviction.[redacted] has past due electric service charges from the start service date to the eviction date. The debt is owed to SMECO by [redacted]. At this time, no adjustments to remove the debt will take place.Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.Sincerely,/s/ electronic signatureLaRaine H[redacted] SMECO Regional Services Director [redacted]
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:thank you I will write to the company to file a complaint thank you
Regards,
[redacted]
SMECO is in receipt of the above complaint from the Revdex.comAfter careful review of the above account, SMECO has determined that [redacted] signed a one year lease for the address aboveThe lease was signed on February 7, to commence on February 18, and end on March 31, The lease was terminated on July 17, due to eviction[redacted] has past due electric service charges from the start service date to the eviction dateThe debt is owed to SMECO by [redacted] At this time, no adjustments to remove the debt will take place.Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.Sincerely,/s/ electronic signatureLaRaine H [redacted] SMECO Regional Services Director [redacted]
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered] Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:thank you I will write to the company to file a complaint thank you Regards, [redacted]
SMECO is in receipt of the rejection of its response to the above complaint from *** *** to the Revdex.com. We encourage *** *** to visit SMECO's Customer Service Center located at *** *** *** ***, Hughesville, Maryland ***, in order to review all records that we have on file regarding her account. If *** *** is not satisfied with SMECO's decision, she may wish to write to the Maryland Public Service Commission, Office of External Relations at * *** *** ***, Baltimore , Maryland *** or call them toll free at ###-###-#### to file a dispute.Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.Sincerely,/s/ electronic signatureKatherine *N***SMECOManaging DirectorEngineering & Operations Services
[redacted], I apologize for the delay in sending this. From the computer I had been working on, I could not type in this text area, and it would not allow the response to send without a message in the "body" as the error said.Please let me know if you have any questions, or need further...
information.Thank you,Sherri Sherri L[redacted]Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Inc.PO Box [redacted]Hughesville, MD 20637###-###-#######-###-#### - fax[redacted]@smeco.coop
May 2, 2016Dear [redacted]:We have received your complaint from the Revdex.com submitted on April 18, ID number [redacted], and we are taking this opportunity to explain our position regarding your comments.Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO), as an electric utility in the...
state of Maryland, is regulated by the Public Service Commission (PSC). In 1966, the PSC delineated the service areas for each of the State’s electric distribution utilities. SMECO was granted the area generally known today as Southern Maryland. The PSC also approves all of the rates and fees that SMECO charges. SMECO is in compliance with all federal and state laws, including, in part because of the PSC’s active oversight of our operations, the federal anti-trust laws.SMECO is an electric cooperative. As such, we are owned by the customer-members to whom we provide electric service. That includes you and all other residential and commercial customer-members, totaling over 163,000. SMECO does not have any stockholders and is not trying to maximize profits through our charges for service. We are a non-profit organization and are simply charging for the cost to provide reliable electric service to all our customer-members.We are governed by a Board of Directors elected by the customer-members. That means the directors answer to the customer-members, not stockholders. All rates that we develop to charge for service must be presented to the Board and approved by the directors as fair and reasonable before we can file the rates with the Maryland PSC.When we file a rate change with the PSC, the process involves a hearing to determine that the proposed rates are fair, just, and reasonable. In addition, the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, which is an agency that represents residential consumers in electric rate proceedings, weighs in on the rate filing. The process concludes with the PSC issuing an order setting the legal rates that SMECO is authorized to charge.That is the process that is in place in Maryland and most other states for setting public utility rates, and it has been used for well over 100 years to ensure reliable electric service at fair and reasonable rates around the country.You state in your complaint that the “delivery fees are supposed to be for establishing an infrastructure that is already in place and has been for some time.” That does not reflect the full circumstance of the basis for the delivery charges. SMECO’s distribution system does connect all its customer-members to the electric grid and SMECO has maintained those connections consistently over time. However, capital expenditures are required every year for the distribution system. To maintain and improve our electric system, we annually install new lines, poles, and transformers, and replace old ones. We upgrade substations, purchase vehicles and equipment, provide safety training to employees, make repairs, and read meters. In 2014, SMECO completed construction of the Southern Maryland Reliability Project, a $108 million project that completed a 230,000-volt loop throughout our service area. We staff a contact center, engineers, a billing department, and more. The costs for all of these services are covered by the Distribution Service charges.From 1999 through 2014, we grew from 118,000 customers to approximately 160,000, an increase of over 35 percent. It takes more than 12,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines to serve all of them. Additionally, the increase in the use of electronics (which continually become more sophisticated and advanced) in homes and businesses has increased the requirements for reliability and power quality in electric service. SMECO must upgrade its distribution system on an ongoing basis to meet its responsibilities and obligations.SMECO’s distribution system is a resource that requires ongoing investment and maintenance, similar to the ongoing requirement for building and maintaining roads for people’s transportation needs. SMECO works hard to meet this requirement efficiently and reliably for our customer- members’ benefit.SMECO provides its customer-members with very high quality service. For eight consecutive years, SMECO has earned the J.D. Power award as the top-ranked mid-sized electric utility in the East Region of the U.S.You expressed concern for low-income customers who may not be able to comply with the deposit requirements. Deposits are a necessary requirement when customers establish service. We are required to allow new customers to pay the deposit over three months. We also work closely with assistance agencies to help low income families that need help with paying their electric bills. In addition, we provide programs to help customers reduce their energy use so they can save money on their monthly bill.Electric customers in Maryland may select their energy provider, but no electric utility provides distribution services in a different utility’s service area. Densely populated areas have more customers per mile of line and more customers to absorb the cost of providing electric service. Southern Maryland is mostly rural with a few areas that are considered population centers. In fact, SMECO was formed in 1937 as a cooperative because the neighboring investor-owned utilities refused to provide service to the rural areas that would not provide a return on their investment.You noted in particular the distribution rates we charge. SMECO recently completed a rate case at the Maryland PSC and the result is that those rates increased in March for the first time in five years. That is only the third rate case SMECO has filed to increase its distribution rates since 1994, a period of over twenty years. The rate case set SMECO base distribution rates at approximately 5.1 cents per kWh for an average customer. By comparison, PEPCO has just filed a rate case with the PSC requesting to set its base distribution rates at 5.7 cents per kWh for an average customer. BGE is currently in the middle of a rate case at the PSC where they have proposed a base distribution rate for the average residential customer of 5.2 cents per kWh.As you note, we also charge for the energy used by customer-members. This has been a great story for us recently. Here we have more than offset the increase that just occurred in our distribution rates with energy rate decreases over the last couple of years. Right now in April, the average cost for energy is 8.1 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). In May, the summer season starts, and the energy rate drops down to 7.4 cents per kWh. That is lower than the rate was all the way from September 2005 through May of 2015. The summer rates we have had last summer and this summer are back down to levels last seen over a decade ago, and are lower than the average energy rate for residential customers of our neighboring utilities, [redacted] and [redacted]. SMECO works hard to provide good service at fair and competitive rates. What you are paying for your electric service is a good value.Very truly yours,Eugene B. Vice President of Rates and Energy Procurement
SMECO is in receipt of the above complaint from the Revdex.com. After careful review of the above account, SMECO has determined that [redacted] signed a one year lease for the address above. The lease was signed on February 7, 2015 to commence on February 18, 2015 and end on March...
31, 2016. The lease was terminated on July 17, 2015 due to eviction.[redacted] has past due electric service charges from the start service date to the eviction date. The debt is owed to SMECO by [redacted]. At this time, no adjustments to remove the debt will take place.Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.Sincerely,/s/ electronic signatureLaRaine H[redacted] SMECO Regional Services Director [redacted]
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:thank you I will write to the company to file a complaint thank you
Regards,
[redacted]