Why thousands of bad bills are creating frustration with Modesto Irrigation District

If you’ve run into problems with the Modesto Irrigation District’s new billing system, you’re in good company.

If you’ve successfully navigated the switch and have no complaint, you’re also in good company.

A month ago, MID officials had predicted that some of its 100,000-plus electricity customers would experience “hiccups” with the new bills. They were right.

▪ Thousands of customers who pay online were forced to re-enroll by entering new 10-digit account numbers, and online banking customers must provide the new numbers to their banks. “The burden of the transition was placed on the customers rather than making it as simple as possible,” Jeff Messer said in a Modesto Bee Facebook post.

▪ Many customers aren’t receiving alerts letting them know that their new account was indeed set up right, or notifying them that payment has been received. “We understand confirmation for such account actions are necessary and have made this a priority to resolve,” said Melissa Williams, MID spokeswoman.

▪ About 165 commercial customers got bills with faulty charges because MID’s new system did not take into account a cap on the utility user tax charged within the city of Modesto, causing the Modesto Chamber of Commerce to send advisories to its members. MID scrapped those bills and will issue new ones.

▪ About 2,000 solar customers were overcharged. Errors on residential bills averaged $9, although some were asked to pay as much as $18 more than they owed. Those who paid before the mistake was detected will be credited on their next bill.

▪ Other solar customers had the exact opposite problem and were overcredited as much as $18 for power generated by their rooftop panels.

▪ Bills were botched for 1,350 Budget Payment Plan customers, and now are on hold. Their bills are supposed to be the same each month, averaged to reflect the previous year’s usage, but calculations aren’t working right.

“Why is our hard-earned money not being used to make their customers’ lives less complicated?” Jasmine Ramirez said in a Facebook post. “Get it together, MID.”

Still others questioned the need for the change.

“The previous version was way better,” Claudia Nina Valencia said in a post.

Gregory Marler wrote, “What was working, why go off and break it?”

Because the former system was horribly outdated and required far more labor, MID says. The new system brings the district into the 21st Century, although not without some pain.

“I know it’s frustrating,” General Manager Greg Salyer said, when people call only to hear a message advising people to try back some other time. That happens when people are not among 125 callers in a queue; when MID tried handling 200, customer service representatives had to work into the evening. They need more staffing for phone calls, Salyer told the MID board, but he didn’t say whether that’s coming.

Meanwhile, exasperation builds.

“I have tried to call a million times,” Michelle Lucas Hill said in an online post, only to be told to try again later. Sarah Cromwell tried for three days.

Francisco Rivera wrote, “It takes forever to get through.”

“Oh, but they will be right on time to turn your (electricity) off if it’s not paid on time. You can count on that!” Jacqueline Aguirre said.

Williams said, “We understand that this change has been an inconvenience for some of our customers, therefore, we aren’t charging late fees or disconnecting power during the billing system transition.”

About a third of MID’s electricity customers have not received new bills, because the district spaces sending them. If yours hasn’t yet arrived, it should in coming days.

In Tuesday’s board meeting, board member Jake Wenger asked for a public explanation for bills no longer providing meter readings. Some customers verified how much power they had used by subtracting the month’s starting meter number from the one at the end, but that exercise no longer is possible. That leaves some customers irate and asking how removing a layer of transparency is a good thing.

Bruce Rankin, MID’s information technology manager, said advances allow customers to see online how much power they’re using hour-by-hour. Complaints have prompted his department to explore how much it might cost to restore monthly readings on future bills, he said, making no promises.

“Customers actually have more tools now to monitor their power usage and verify their bills,” said Williams, because new bills feature a new graph.

Others responding on The Bee’s Facebook page don’t see what the fuss is all about.

“Took me about five minutes to re-enroll,” Erick Kimball said in a post. “It’s not like five minutes is a terrible inconvenience. Just seems like a lot of pointless complaining.”

“Don't be mad at MID because you can’t follow simple step-by-step directions,” Emilee Helfrich said.

More than 14,500 customers had successfully re-enrolled as of Tuesday, Williams said.

Another customer said those complaining must be “beyond lazy,” and others agreed that the new system is an improvement. Some said they’re happy to pay lower rates than if they had service from Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

Those thoughts did not placate many customers who are angry as ever. One called MID “evil,” and another, “idiots.”

“Nightmare!” wrote Christina Marie Myers.

“Freaking hate MID,” said Tiffany Harkins.

Some resign themselves, for lack of options.

“MID has a monopoly,” wrote Michelle Johnson. “We have nowhere else to turn and MID knows this.”

In Tuesday’s board meeting, Salyer said, “Complaints actually help us” because in some cases, “we can recognize and implement a fix.”

More information is available on the MID website, or by calling 209-526-7337 or 888-335-1643.

This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Why thousands of bad bills are creating frustration with Modesto Irrigation District."