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Pennsylvania PUC Chair Calls PECO Customer Service Metric Performance "Unacceptable", As PUC Releases Management Audit
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During today's Pennsylvania PUC meeting, PUC Chair Stephen DeFrank called a degradation in PECO's customer service performance metrics, and the failure of PECO's initial actions to adequately remediate the degradation, "unacceptable."
The PUC was reviewing a comprehensive management and operations audit of PECO conducted by the PUC
A media representative from PECO stated, "We have developed a comprehensive plan in response to the Commission’s recommendations, and we look forward to implementing this plan as we continue to enhance our work of providing safe and reliable energy for our customers across southeastern Pennsylvania, while keeping bills as low as possible."
PECO's full statement concerning the matter follows below.
DeFrank reported "significant concerns" as a result of the audit, and highlighted both billing issues from a new CIS which continue to negatively impact customers, as well as PECO's reliance on what DeFrank termed "excessive" employee overtime
DeFrank in a statement said, "the Management Efficiency
Investigation found that: (1) PECO's Customer Information System is causing a
degradation in customer service performance metrics; and (2) PECO's implementation
of the new Customer Information System has led to challenges in addressing customers'
needs. I am concerned that PECO's customer service performance began to decline in
2024, after the then-newly implemented Customer Information System went online, and
that these performance issues still persist. As of July 2025, PECO's average speed to
answer calls had degraded significantly, increasing to an average of 216 seconds
compared to a goal of 18 seconds. The increased call wait time is what likely led to
PECO's abandoned call rate increasing to 11.2%, up from the Company's goal of 1.6%."
DeFrank stated, "Additionally, the Bureau of Audits observed multiple PECO inquiries where customers
did not receive their bills regularly and had significant unpaid balances. Response times
for high bill customer complaints rose from 10 days in 2021 to 27 days as of May 2025.
As well, the Commission saw an increase in PECO customers filing informal
complaints that the Company did not respond to in a timely manner."
"I find these outcomes to be unacceptable," DeFrank stated
DeFrank alleged that, in responding to concerns raised about the new CIS in a prior rate case, "PECO asserted that it had taken material steps to ensure
that its customer service representatives received extensive training on the new
Customer Information System software and that the Company was in the process of
implementing new training."
DeFrank said, "At that time, in acknowledgment that the Customer
Information System had only been recently deployed, the Commission provided PECO
with an opportunity to investigate and remediate any resulting customer service issues.
Unfortunately, given the findings of this investigation, I am disappointed to see that
such remediation was not achieved."
Concerning overtime, DeFrank said, "I am alarmed that the
Bureau of Audits review of PECO's available fatigue reports indicated that certain
employees were regularly working in excess 80-90 hours per week on average in a 28-day period, with some employees logging more than 100 hours per week. This too is
unacceptable."
"As the Management Efficiency Investigation rightly indicates,
employees working excessive overtime can experience both physical and mental
fatigue, which creates unsafe conditions for both employees and customers," DeFrank said
DeFrank said, "I expect PECO
to address the customer service and workforce concerns raised by parties in the
Company's 2024 rate case before filing another rate case. I will monitor PECO's
progress, and the Company will be held accountable for failure to address these matters."
While DeFrank cited concerns about two issues from the larger audit, the audit stated that the PUC auditors found that PECO "effectively or substantially" implemented nine of the selected 19 recommendations from a 2022 Audit Report and has acted on the remaining ten recommendations.
The management audit findings come as PECO and parent Exelon propose an expanded role for PECO in the state's electric industry, including potentially through utility ownership of power generation
A media representative from PECO provided the following statement concerning the matter:
"We worked extensively with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) throughout the Management Efficiency Investigation process, which is an important tool to ensure accountability for the customers and communities we serve. We have developed a comprehensive plan in response to the Commission’s recommendations, and we look forward to implementing this plan as we continue to enhance our work of providing safe and reliable energy for our customers across southeastern Pennsylvania, while keeping bills as low as possible.
"We acknowledge Chairman DeFrank’s comments regarding customer service and overtime, and we have already taken steps to address these concerns. It’s important to note that the report reflects information from the previous year and many of the customer service challenges that we experienced with the deployment of our new customer information system have already been resolved. Nonetheless, we continue to make enhancements to ensure we deliver enhanced service to our customers.
"PECO regularly looks for ways to reduce overtime costs. Most of PECO’s overtime is related to storms, and this work is essential to meeting customer expectations during major weather events and is outside of the company’s control. To restore service quickly and safely after storms, we often need many employees working additional hours within a short timeframe."
--- Statement from PECO
In an implementation plan filed in response to the audit, PECO said in such filing that it will continue to identify and mitigate issues impacting the Customer Service
Representatives’ (CSRs) ability to more efficiently serve customers and improve
customer service performance, including identifying and mitigating technical issues impacting system
availability
PECO said in the filing that focus areas will include:
1. Targeted billing refresher training for agents to improve accuracy and efficiency
when responding to customer billing complaints.
2. Onboarding of additional contractor agents to stabilize service levels and reduce
abandoned calls during elevated call volumes.
3. Continue to review selected customer calls to identify improvement opportunities
which may include increased or enhanced training.
4. Review and update as necessary CSR training modules to ensure accuracy and
identify potential improvements.
Concerning overtime, PECO in the implementation plan said that Electric Operations and Gas Operations
will continue to evaluate alternatives identified in the Management
Efficiency Investigation follow-up review to improve overtime (OT) performance.
In the implementation plan, PECO further said concerning overtime (similar plans from PECO were provided for both electric and gas, the gas plans are quoted here):
• PECO will continue to evaluate and improve the existing fatigue reports process; Gas
Operations will resume utilizing fatigue reports to improve knowledge and understanding
on the impacts of overtime on safety and performance.
• The Safety and Human Performance department will continue to analyze overtime usage
to determine optimal levels that balance performance and safety.
• PECO will continue to utilize the overtime hours Key Performance Indicator (KPI) by
department and include it in the monthly Overtime Cost Management report.
Docket D-2025-3053971
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March 12, 2026
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Copyright 2026 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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