Church discovers it paid more than $67K in power bills for county soccer fields by mistake

CHARLOTTE — Members at a church in south Charlotte became concerned after they found out how much the church was paying for power.

Mike Munley is Chairman of the Board at St. Francis United Methodist Church. “I heard our pastor say something like, ‘Geez, we get so many Duke Energy bills. We don’t know what they’re for,’” he said.

Munley started looking into it. “So, I went around and I matched up each bill with the meter,” he said.

Munley says the church has three meters but kept getting four power bills. “And then I was looking at the bill. The bill was made out to St. Francis United Methodist Church, 4200 McKee Road, which is our address. But then, in the little letters on the second page of the bill, it said the service address is at 4201 McKee Road,” he said.

4201 McKee Road is across the street from the church. The property is a park with soccer fields that have floodlights, and it belongs to Mecklenburg County.

Munley says he went to the soccer fields, checked the meter, and the bill matched. He says the church had been paying for the soccer fields for 16 years and that the total was more than $67,000.

“People say, ‘Why did you pay the bill?’ Well, the bill has … our name and our address on it,” he said.

Munley says he contacted Duke Energy and the company said it is only legally required to reimburse the church for the last three years (roughly $12,000), and it only has to charge the county for last 150 days.

“So that’s when I turned to you guys for some help,” Munley told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke.

Stoogenke emailed Duke Energy. It’s not clear what happened next, but, Munley says, “After you got involved, the interesting thing was the county called us.”

Munley says the county offered to repay the church for the other 13 years (about $55,000). “They called me directly. They emailed me. They’ve been phenomenal,” he said.

“When Mecklenburg County was informed of this billing error, we immediately worked with Duke Energy on a resolution. We are happy that St. Francis United Methodist Church is now whole and look forward to a continuation of the positive relationship we have with the church and that community,” a county spokesperson emailed Stoogenke.

Duke Energy emailed Stoogenke:

“Through both a bill audit and field investigation, we did confirm that a meter that served some lighting at Mecklenburg County soccer fields at 4201 McKee Road had been included among a group of meters associated with the account for St. Francis United Methodist Church at 4200 McKee Road for approximately 16 years.

“This case demonstrates why we encourage customers to review their monthly statements, and our sincere desire to rectify billing issues as soon as we become aware of them. All monthly bills include meter numbers being charged to each account for review by our customers. As a matter of fact, the information listed on the church’s statements was instrumental in identifying the billing issue. Unfortunately, given this issue dates back 16 years, we are unable to pinpoint how this mix-up occurred exactly other than the meter erroneously associated with the church’s account began service in 2007, and St. Francis has paid for charges associated with it since without any concern until notifying us this January.

“Upon confirmation of the account issue, we immediately addressed it by billing Mecklenburg County for the soccer field lighting and taking steps to compensate the church. Given the unknown circumstances regarding the error in 2007, we referenced the regulatory rules under which we operate.”

“We’re glad to get the money back,” Munley told Stoogenke. “It’s a huge deal for our church. A huge deal.”

Duke Energy says that, legally, here are the rules for any utility:

Reimbursement:

- If it can determine how long you were overcharged: it only has to reimburse you for a maximum of three years.

- If it can’t figure it out: it only has to reimburse you for one year.

“Back billing” the correct customer:

- If it was a mistake: the utility will only charge the customer (the one who should have been paying) for 150 days maximum.

- If that customer knew he/she wasn’t paying the full amount: the utility will charge that customer up to three years.

- If that customer actually tampered with the meter (and didn’t pay the right amount): the utility will charge him/her for the entire amount.

Advice from Action 9:

- Check your bill carefully, especially if you use a lot of electricity such as a business or church where you may not notice a few hundred dollars extra here and there as easily.

- Address issues quickly.

- If you have questions, make some noise and have someone explain it to you.

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