FirstEnergy
Reviews and Complaints

There has to be something that can be done.
I have never not paid a bill. Never not paid the whole bill. I have been late a few times. I am a small business owner and have alot going on. I have been late. That is what a Late fee is for. Right? Now $1108 Sercurity Deposit. Really. I have been in the same loaction for 17 years. I have 4 different accounts with them on 4 different buildings and they do this. There has got to be someone out there that will take this matter to the higher court and get them realmed in. 4 years they said until I get my deposit back. Only one power company around here and they want to rape you. And that is what they are doing. It is down right wrong. WRONG WRONG WRONG

This is clearly unlawful. I paid my bill, got caught up, and THEY APPLIED the usage payment TO THE SECURITY DEPOSIT, then turned around and charged me a LATE FEE! These folks are crooks, and as a commenter posted earlier, using their monopoly status to apply leverage to good hard working Americans. It's similar to the credit card company that skyrockets your interest rate to 29% and piles on late fees such that you end up paying many times over the original amount due. If these scumballs at Allegheny Power do not respond positively to ANOTHER CALL tomorrow, I'm hauling their [censor] into court.

p.s. my monthly bill is between 80$ and 100$. so this deposit is almost 4 times my average monthly bill.

I moved from one house to another. Granted i do always pay a few days late because of how my pay days fall. I am a single woman trying to make it on her own, its hard to keep up sometimes. BUT my power has never had to be cut off! I have ALWAYS paid !

So when i moved they decided i need to pay a 380$ deposit. If i am having a hard time paying the bills on time then why penalize me almost 400$?!? I am still trying to pay the deposit off 6 months later!

AND i have no other choice in my area! This is clearly a monopoly and they are clearly raking their customers over the coals to make extra money.

Did you guys get this resolved? I just got a notice like this in the mail wanting a $360 security deposit! We have NEVER had our power shut off, although we have been late maybe three times the past year. Our balance isn't even currently late and we get this notice this month!

I have had the same problem. We pay a payment EVERY month by automatic bill pay but apparently our average payment amount went up and we were under paying. So we got a termination notice and had to adjust our payments. Since this took 3 months to totally catch up with the new amount we received the Deposit demand of $284! We have never been shut off and have always made a payment and have lived at the same address for 5 years. Ridiculous.

living here in central Pa we are having the same problems with the outrageous electric bills for January and February. What I have discovered is this, the variable rate is what got us, even if you were on a fixed rate.this is because you must renew your contract annually with your supplier and if you don't you are automatically switched to the variable rate. This is usually in the fine print.It's legal but not ethical. I'm afraid it all boils down to our elected officials not doing their job of looking out for us. RS

Allegheny Power does not read your meter most of the time. I was overcharged and decided to fight it by contacting the attorney general about my situation. Now my electric bill is half of what it used to be and I haven't cut back on electric use at all.

There is an easy fix to this. I had the same problem and I gave a call to the attorney general and he looked into it and now my bill has been cut in half. I suggest all of you do the same thing or the power company will continue to over-charge you knowing you have no other electric company to go to.

I live in a 2 br apt, moved here in Nov, 2010. I put plastic on all the windows, a blanket down by the door. My electric bill was over $380.00! Heat set on 67. I was a little put off by that. Here it is 5/29/2011, heat has been turned off for over 3 weeks, the bill is $200? I really can't understand how this is possible? I lived in a 2 and 1/2 bedroom house and my bills were maybe 58.00, granted my furnace was gas. Never have my electric bills been like this. I called and questioned them and they told me that this was an actual reading, and that is what they usually run up in these apartments. I can't even put the air on in here because I'm affraid I won't be able to afford it! Sweating my but off up in here! Anyone have a plan as to how to stop this? E-mail me with suggestions! sheryld66@comcast.net. Write AP sucks in the subject line.

our average electric bill was about $250/mnth since we moved in last year in June we have a combo electric/oil heat (upstairs is a small electric furnace, downstairs is all heated by oil)
we received our monthly bill on Monday and both my husband and I flipped at the WHOPPING $1576.26 bill
they claim we used 17013kw in 27 days. For most of March I was in the hospital for chemo/radiation and heart problems. (even offered proof no-one was home since my family were in WV with me if they weren't in school/@work)
when I called and spoke to a Rep they said it may be a wronged meter reading and said they'd send someone out.
Today we got told to check all our appliances have, and to have our water heater/well pump checked (well pump has been off the whole time we've lived here and were told it hasn't been used in at least 5 yrs!) because since their reading on March 16th (1wk ago today) they claim we've used another 550Kw...and no-one's been home!
Kids were at school I was in WV and my husband works 12 hr shifts from 0800hrs to 2000hrs and goes to bed @ 2300hrs (with exception to occasional let nights on week-ends to play the Ps3) we don't share properties and live on a small farmette so no, there's no misterious wires running from my building that I notice.
then we get told "maybe the use of the Ps3 is the reason"...ummmyeah right!

I was late three times this year because of high bills and they are demanding 400. deposit on top of my bill. I got a bill today of 987.00! I called and they are making me pay a deposit because after 45 years of service I never paid one.
And their isn't anything I can do to waive the deposit that I can not afford right now. They don't care. Dorris was so rude she acted like she owned the company and it was her company the way she was trying to collect this deposit from me. What a witch to deal with. Apollo PA

I am James Davis and I ran for governor of West Virginia in 2008: http://jamesdavisforgovernor.davis-publishing.com . Most of you may not know that because the Secretary of State, Mrs. Ireland, made sure that I was not on the ballot or my name even close to the voting booths. She even refunded my money, telling me that there was an error in my registration and the date passed for a new registration and she would put me on the Write-In ballot.

Throughout my campaign, I tried telling the people that the utility companies and PSC was robbing us blind. The local news stations and the local newspapers always cut that part out of my talk. There is a way we can stop the utility companies from sucking us dry and turn their shady dealings back on them. Go on this web site and read about solar panels: http://www.greenraysolar.com . You can hook those up to the grid and the power you don't use will go into the grid and start turning your meter backwards and in a very short period of time, Allegheny will have to start paying you for the energy you are putting into the grid.

In the last three years President Bush was in office, the utility companies requested from PSC and got 157% increase in rates through the 'Free Marketing System'.

I am thinking about running for governor of West Virginia again in 2012. If you want someone in that office that will put a stop to these companies ripping people off, then e-mail me at: DavisJms7@dslextreme.com and put in the subject line: James Davis For Governor in 2012 --and I will tell you what we will do to take back our money that has been stolen from us by big business and our government.

PS- I am checking my meter reading, just to be clear.

I have used Allegheny Power since moving here in February. I am participating in the automatic payment plan so I never miss a bill and I'm never late. Every month my bills were estimated around $11 or $30, which I thought was a little low- but I knew they were just estimating and I should expect a bigger bill when they do the meter reading.
However, I am a single young professional female living in a TINY one bedroom, one floor apartment. Two days ago I checked my bank account and they had taken $1, 700 OUT OF MY BANK ACCOUNT!
Are you kidding me? $1, 700!? For one girl? I NEVER leave a light on in more than one room, I always decide what I want out of the fridge before opening it so I don't waste energy, I always unplug my appliances and I kept my heat on very low during the winter. I even plugged up all the holes and cracks in my old home with a foam gun.
I told my landlord and he thought it was ridiculous too and there must be a problem. (By the way- this bill is more than twice what I pay in rent). I called Allegheny and they said it must be due to my heat usage and that my apartment isn't very well insulated. It's complete bull. I'm so angry. I work for a non-profit making very little and struggle to stay independent. I'm so sad that people are so willing to screw people over.
I'm going to do something about this. When I get heated and passionate about something, I don't stop until something changes, so I will keep everyone posted.
Good luck with everyone else.

Allegheny Power is definitely the rip off of the century with their $1200 estimate for one month. $300 a month to $1200 estimate for March is a bit of a leap even with a cold winter and/or ice age. $320 bill with a ten day power outtage. They are quick to rip us off fast and hard and with no end in sight. HELP US ALL. I say regulate the hell out of them.

My Bill for April 2011 was $1100.00 for a 1500 square foot home. April was sort of a mild month. How in the world could our bill be $1100. When we bought the house 11 years ago a $200 bill was a large one. What has happened? And unless you keep all your paper bills, you cannot really know what your usage was/is. They should be required to show all this information on the website so customers can evaluate what they are being charged.

I have Alleg.Power you can plainly see by the $$ multiplier on my Bill, that they just took a raise in 2009. Yet I just received
a letter from them, saying they haven't had a raise since 1999,
and are planning one in January 2011. This is crooked!
Timothy A Gigliotti
I'm tired of their games, I'm going to try to get the Pa Attorney
General involved in an Investigation.

I agree that meters should be read every month. My bill for Jan., Feb., March were all estimated, sucks, now this month, April was read and it was really high, May is estimated real low. I have read my own meter but it's a pain. Companies should do it. Three months in a row estimated. What's their excuse and it better not be the weather for I had to go to work in it.

Allegheny Power complaint; Good for you! GO for the Juggler. This just shows everybody how incompentent washington runs the country.

So hard to deal with these custy service people.

Here's phone numbers for supervisors, call them instead of the 800 number. The squeaky wheel gets the grease:

[protected]
[protected]

I see i am not the only one. my husband passed away 2 years ago and i moved into a smaller place. it is electric heat, the worst ever as far as cost. i have had trouble paying the high bills, but i have been doing my best. I have applied for liheap but didnt get all the information in on time. allegheny had me on a budget but when the liheap didnt go through, they took me off the budget and I got a late notice even though i paid the bill on time. the bill i got said i had 3 shut off notices and i owed them a secuirity deposit of 280.00. I thought it was a mistake, i was furious and i called them, the woman said that because i did not get liheap even though i paid my bill on time, it was considered late. Prior to this I had been calling them trying to get some help in some way. I told her what my situation was, I have been calling trying to get some help from allegheny power and it just keeps getting worse, I am not getting any help. my bills are very high even though I havent been using heat or air conditiong at all for a month. I keep thinking why havent I caught up on this bill yet. I have paid them over $ 1600.00 over the past 4 months. my bills are not going down yet. I DONT KNOW IF ANYONE FROM ALLEGHENY WILL EVER SEE THIS, I HOPE THEY DO. They dont care that they are dealing with people. There is something wrong with the board of directors. if i could live without heat i would, I have 2 children living at home with me. Ann Perrotta 64 leith st. Uniontown pa. 15401

Allegheny Power is the greediest company in the world. We have been paying our bills on time with Allegheny for 20 years. They have gotten every penny for their over-priced service. My wife and I have both lost our jobs, and we're scraping to get by on part-time work. We're a couple-hundred behind on payments to them for the first time in our lives. So - benevolent company that they are - instead of understanding our plight, they slap a $250 deposit charge on our bill from last month on top of the monthly charges. Yeah, like we can afford a $450 bill right now. We call them and tell them we can't afford their extra charges, and appeal to their conscience. Oops, they don't have one. They won't pull the deposit requirement. We can't afford it, so we make our monthly payment for the electricity. Then, the [censor] apply the payment to their IMMORAL service charge, and say we haven't paid our bill. THEN, they send one of their schmucks to our house to disconnect our power unless we pay the whole thing in full on the spot. THAT'S EXTORTION, and if I did it to someone, I would be arrested. But, of course, Allegheny Power owns all the politicians. So, now my asthmatic daughter won't be getting her medicine this month, and we'll be eating crackers and water while the FAT CAT [censor] that run this company live the high life in their mansions. New corporate motto: ALLEGHENY POWER: WE'RE WHAT'S WRONG WITH AMERICA!

I know what everyone is talking about. The electric bills are outrageous! It is absolutely ridiculous when you get an electric bill in that is just as much as your rent. I have heard so many different excusses from the electric company over and over again. You can use the same amount of electricity every month but the electric bill goes up and up. Your using " more", how? When you are doing the same and using the same appliances every month. I have changed light bulbs to energy saving, not leaving any lights on including my front porch light, unplugging things when not being used, etc... And no change; the bill just keeps getting higher. Personally, I think that the electric companies are literally taking advantage of people. These companies are just getting richer and richer off of us. If any average person would steal or "scam people" they would be sent to jail for robbery but these companies get away with taking advanage of people all the time; They just get away with it. The poor and middle class people are "slaves" to the rich class (companies) .

WOW IM GLAD TO SEE IM NOT THE ONLY ONE HAVING ISSUES WITH THIS SORRY ### ELECTRIC COMPANY THEY HAVE THE WORST CUST. SERV AND THEY ARE RAPING PEOPLE FOR THERE MONEY EVERY MONTH. SOMETHING REALLY NEEDS TO BE DONE WITH THESE ### HOLES.

My girlfriend and I moved into a small, 2-bedroom apartment in May and have had nothing but issues with Allegheny Power since the move. First and foremost, we were both previous Allegheny Power customers with service in our names. When we got the first bill, we were surprised with $261 deposit even though we were both previous customers. There was no negotiating with the agent we spoke with and had no choice but to pay the deposit.

We got the first bill and everything seemed okay. The second bill we received was an actual reading for $153. The next bill we received was an estimated reading for $117. The estimated reading was actually more than the actual reading from the previous month, yet the bill was $36 cheaper. Then, we get this month's bill which is another actual reading. Interestingly enough, the usage doubled from the last actual reading we received and the bill is now $279. This is absolutely ridiculous and our habits have not changed. I am gone for over 12 hours a day and my girlfriend is gone for over 8. The air conditioner is not running when we are not here and we are very cognizant of the energy we use. Our computers are powered down when we are not using them. The only thing we have that draws constant power is the refrigerator and alarm clock. So, I have asked for another actual reading this month and I stated to the agent I want to present when the meter is being read. We will see if that happens.

I have rented a larger, 2-bedroom end unit apartment in the past and a 3-story townhouse and have never paid more than $120 a month for electric. Unfortunately, our hands are tied because we have no other options in this area so someone needs to step in and hold power companies accounting for raking their customers through the coals. We all work extremely hard for the money we make and it is shame we have to spend so much of it on power.

I hate these energy monopolies the CEO of Allegheny Energy raked in over $37 million in his salary...Thief! Check out http://www.mycreditsucks.org/forum

I too am in the same type of boat as all of you the difference with me is that they shut my power off. I have a bill that runs about 120.00 a month it then jumped to 150.00 and so on... I lost my job and missed one payment i got hammered with a 450.00 payment due i sent a payment of about 300.00. didnt matter they shut me off and i will not recieve any money for sevral days? I have a pregnant wife and all of our heat is electric, I have literally been freezing to death. The have now hit me with a depposit that needs to be paid before hook up can occur, another 106.00 that i don't have. I not fully certain as to when I can get things up and running again. I hope soon I am otherwise going to freeze, die of hunger, and smell to high heaven...somthing about taking a ice shower really doesn't please me.

I purchased a 4 unit apartment building in July that was in need of rehab. 2 of the units remained in my name with allegheny including the common area meter. up until about 3 months ago I didn't have much of a problem, the most expensive bill was 127.00 to that point. Keep in mind this is a 2 bedroom apartment. Then all of the sudden it went up to 200.00 then the next month to 280 something. Finally last month it went up to 389.00 for one month! A 2 bedroom apartment! I called the company and they told me that it had to be something inside the unit causing the increase. So I hired an electrician to come check it. He found that the heat pump emergency system was kicking on and causing more power usage, but no way was it using 400 dollars worth of power. Allegheny refuses to check into any of these problems themselves. I'm fed up. How is there over a 100% increase in 3 months when I wasn't even using any power. It was just sitting there waiting to be rented out. It's insane. The upstairs unit that just went into my name 45 days ago was 120.00 the first time I received a bill. the next month it was 220.00. I have no idea how they are doing it but I know I am being over charged. These are 2 bedroom apartments. I know people with 4 bedroom houses that pay the same or less.

I completely agree. I am in the same situation. I have been late a few times over the last few months due to a change in employment (lost my job and had to take a considerable pay cut), but never have been shut off. I was just hit with a hefty security deposit. I tried to file a complaint with the Pa Utility commission, but have not had any luck with them either.