Duke Energy
reviews and complaints

I spoke with Duke Energy last month to set up a payment plan and was given five dates that my payments could be spread out with beginning on 3/25 (in 3 days). I received a email and phone call saying we would be disconnected so I phoned them back and they said that there was an error in the dates and if I paid a certain amount immediately, they would redo the payment arrangements. After two straight days on the phone trying to straighten this out, they said that the agent "misinformed" me and that I had to pay a ridiculous amount of money next month or lose my service. They said they saw where the agent "misinformed" me however they could not honor it. Is that not fraud? If the person who works for you talks to a customer and gives them specific dates of when their payments who be spread out should they not stand by the error and not punish the customer? They know we can't just call another energy company so they know they can do this to us. This is wrong in every way.

Duke Energy and their Sub-Contractors are replacing the saw poles and power lines on our street. All the poles on the street are situated on the property lines, with the exception of mine which is in the middle of the front yard (outside of the easement). The work vehicles have been parking in my driveway. The trucks have torn up my yard, left deep tire impressions, busted up portions of my driveway and caused all the landscape edging along my driveway to get pushed down and sunken to dirt level. They also seem to have either crushed or ruptured the water main running from the meter to the house. My driveway is approx. 200 feet long and they have been parking their vehicles there while working on the rest of the street, including the sidewalk leading to my front door. There was no notices distributed prior to the work being done. The activity has caused my dog to get stressed, causing her to bark, rupture her vocal cords and vomit blood, which led to a trip to the emergency vet clinic. The way Duke Energy, Pike & Ballard treat Duke's customers should be a crime. This is not how you treat people!

Since October 2022 I have been in a facility to rehab a broken hip and wrist. Due to that my house is sitting empty with 4 lights on timers, a refrigerator, electric baseboard heat set at 65 degrees and a water heater. My daughter lives close enough to keep an eye on things every week. My bills have escalated since January 2023 @ $222 to Feb 2023 @$324! I got no explanation from your customer service phone line, and no sympathy for the extreme stress this is causing. I will be going home alone, once I am discharged as my husband died in November. No offers to make a payment plan or help me in any way.

This amount of increase is unacceptable and defies all common sense.

Please investigate.

I would like to know where the payment is that was sent to Duke Energy by the Randolph County Department of Social Services. The direct deposit was sent on 1/25/2023 for me and several other people. It was sent from the county department of social services. There was a memo with the deposit that included the information for the account that it was to be applied and the amount that was sent for that account. I have spoken to two supervisors at my department of social services and was told that Duke Energy opted to have their assistance payments be sent as direct deposited starting in 2023. Last year and the years before it was sent by check and there was a promise to pay made by the department. Per the request of DUKE ENERGY these payments started being DD this year. So, I was approved for a $500 payment, and it was sent to you all. As mentioned, I have confirmed this twice with two sperate supervisors at the department of social services that sent it. One supervisor that is over the program application and also the supervisor in the finance department that sent the direct deposit. I have called several times and never get an answer as to why this has not been applied to my account yet. I was told that a find payment request was submitted for me. But still nothing. So not only did you all get almost $1100 out of my bank account last month for electric service which is unspeakably high. You also got a $500 payment from Randolph County Department of Social Services 1/25/2023 and never applied it to my balance. Now, you all have kicked my off of my installment plan and billed my over $1300 due by 3.20 yet you all cannot seem to find the payment that was sent to you and apply it to my account. Why is there no regulation of this and why are there no supervisors that can even speak to your customers. The amount of money you all charge I should get concierge service when I call for a concern. When will you all be looking into this and applying this credit to my account? It has been a month and in my opinion you all have had plenty of time to get this figured out. I want someone to call me back and I want someone to find out what is going on with this money social services sent! So, you all got my money from my bank account and the amount of assistance awarded to me but never even actually gave me the credit. WHY? Who do I need to speak to to file an official complaint. Who do I need to speak to that can actually fix this issue? I am going to be filing an official complaint if I do not hear something back ASAP. Tuesday 2/28 I will be filing an official complaint with the federal trade commission and the better business bureau about this issue. I will also be in contact with the local department of social services to speak about option for a class action lawsuit to include everyone whose service was disconnected or the customers you all took the assist for but never applied. I am sure there are some personal injury concerns. I had to skip a house payment last month to make the payment to you all. WHO IS GOING TO FIGURE THIS OUT! I am officially DEMANDING that someone figure this out! Apply the $500 credit to my account and I will make a payment for the remainder of the bill owed. Until you all can figure this out I don't see any reason for me to keep giving you all money to STEAL. Because lets face it. You got the money did not apply the credit...that is theft.

Since 10/20/2022 I have been in a Nursing & rehab facility for a broken hip and wrist. My house is empty as a result. My daughter keeps an eye on the house and keeps our electric heat at 67 degrees. The only other usage is refrigerator, freezer, water pump and 4 light bulbs on timers.

Despite that, my bills have grown higher and higher; from $132 in December to $222 in January and now $324! There is no logical reason for this, unless a meter is faulty or there is some other error. No one I have contacted by phone has had any compassion or reasonable explanation. I am terrified I won't be able to pay these bills and want it explained and corrected. As a new window and a physically struggling 89 year old this is another source of stress I do not need.

Please help.
Wilma Wilson

Had a parking ticket and they have something like this happen was devastating my mother was upset she was in tears thinking I was going to be going to jail for something I didn't do and I'm her caregiver I'm all she has and I have to do a lot of things for her because of her current disability. It upset her so bad I had to take her to the hospital to make sure she was okay. But I got the 911 call where they bleeped out the employee's name and phone number and he says my name my profession and what I was supposed to have done and they sent two deputies there. They only good thing about it is he didn't guess my age right which was good. However there are people in the county and I was told there were five to 6,000 people that listen to those scanners and my name is very my character is my job now they questioned my character and now my name is in their system is threatening people with a gun of which never happened. I requested that Duke Energy fire this employee they need to figure out how to get that out of the 911 system and also I have Financial restitution for defamation of character and defaming my character and slander. It's been over 4 weeks and I've heard nothing. My attorney said that if we went to court he was going to ask for about 10 times what I was asking for financially and I'm willing to make a settlement with them but to just ignore and hope I go away is not right because they slandered my name. My name is my job and since that's happened I've had no business at all. This is what happens in a small town one person hears it and it gets huge. And I think someone needs to make restitution for their Slanders defaming and demeaning remarks and what they did and the way they accept myself but also my mother who's 86 and not in good health. But to ignore it that's ridiculous. I wish I could go to another Electrical Company and I wouldn't use their service but we have no choice. Something needs to be done and I don't want to hear from one of their Zone flunkies I want to hear from upper management like Lynn Good who's president of Duke Energy that's who I sent my letter to I was thinking a response would come faster than 4 weeks plus. Thank you

On Feb 14, 2023, I received a call from my daughter (Kara Goodman) and she informed me Duke disconnected her power at her apartment and left a door hang tag advising they did. She contacted Duke and they said she owed $1,600.00, which must be paid before her power would be turned back on. She claims that she never received any monthly billing statements from Duke at her address mailbox (1166 E. Hartwood Drive, Apt# G082B, Terra Haute, IN) or via email. When I called Duke about this issue they got permission from Kara to add me to her account as an "authorized user" and told me the same thing. She still owed a $350 deposit and 8 months of unpaid energy bills. 8 MONTHS? If I miss 2 Duke payments here at my home I get a disconnect notice and then someone comes out and shuts my power off in less than 2 1/2 months, which is explained here in your own publicly posted disconnection procedure https://www.duke-energy.com/Home/Billing/Special-Assistance/Disconnection-Procedures?jur=NC02 I had to pay this bill to get her power turned back on and now we're struggling financially. If this had been done per your procedures and this was brought to my attention earlier, I could have worked with her to resolve it but hitting us with a 8 months worth of unpaid energy bills all at once was certainly not standard procedure and has really put us in a bind. I'm not disputing the energy usage or that the bill was owed, but paying 8 months worth of energy all at once because you didn't follow your own procedures just seems bad to me. I recommend you do an internal investigation to see HOW THIS HAPPENED! I will be sending this to the Better Business Bureau as well. Travis Goodman t. [protected]@att.net

Jan 20th, called to to see why bill went up so much. Talked to an "escalation specialist"? My bill said it would be going up to $233.31 for the next month. Only to find out the new bill would be $379, due Jan 31st...this was on-line info. When I asked/ commented this has never happened before, past 2 years? just gradual increases/ affordability. She/ escalation specialist replied, it was and has been, because of a "technical glitch." I'm supposed to now pay for your mistake? It's not our fault. Especially because of our bill history. Over 60% increase, it's not fair. There has to be a law somewhere, you cant go up on someone, this much, without any notice:( We cant afford it...

Duke Energy put a pole in my yard to connect electricity to an addition that was added to my home. The pole is placed about 10 feet from the corner of the deck and the wires to the electric box hang over the deck. A few years back these wires were starting to sag over the deck. I called Duke Energy to ask them to come and tighten it up. They brought a couple f very large trucks and drove to my back yard and tightened the pole. Wen they left, my land had indentations to this day that cause the yard to slope. The wires going across the deck are sagging again because of the weather over the past several years. I called for them to come and tighten the wires again. This time they said they could not do that and it should not have been done the first time. Duke Power says I need to have an electrician come out and put in a pole on my electric box about 4 feet high so the wires can be raised over the deck. Electrician said $1200 to do that work. Also said Duke Energy could remove the pole and place the wires underground and run the wires to the box on the back of my house. $1450. Why am I responsible for having to pay for ANY of this work? The pole should never have been placed next to the deck and wires should not be sagging over my deck. Again, why am I responsible for the payment to do this?

Wednesday December 14 2022, around 7:37 am, a white truck was spotted in my parents yard at 311 S Main St Waco NC (Hubert and Judy Thompson). Their son-in-law went to see what was going on, the truck was stuck in the yard on top of the septic tank. Another truck had to pull the truck out, In return busted the septic tank. I have reported this problem on December 16 2022. Sedgwick sent a letter and said Asplundh was responsible. January 31 2023 I spoke with a lady at Asplundh and she said a supervisor would get in touch, one did call that evening and he said they were not there that day and it was Signature Tree Service. I would like to know how to get a hold of this company to get the problem solved.

Thank you

Sharon White

[protected]

Every year, December and January. My bill jumps high...$250 to $300... this year I purposely went out of town... In January, I called and complained... No luck... Then bill came for January for $250... Same day guy from Grid One came by... Said he had to change out the meter. They could not read it... How could you determine bill if the meter was defective, or not working? Called Duke... No common sense ever on their end... Told girl to email me the case number and review documents... Said she didn't have the ability to do so by email... How stupid do they think we are?... Or how stupid are the workers...Common sense goes a long way

My meter has been broken for 6-8 months I called no one came out to look at it. Yet every month someone from duke energy comes out to read my meter or they pull it deom a location because I have a smart meter and the charge me every month for the reading results of the meter.

But the Problem is The Meter have not been working for 6-8 months! So how are tou charging me $1000’s dollars for electricity with a brloe meter. Duke energy service team pinged my meter from a local office and they even said yes its not working! I smell lawsuit!

To whom it may concern: this past christmas eve,12/24/22, "without warning", you shut-off power in my neighborhood... 6929 woodstock dr, charlotte,28210.  we understand some of the challenges duke energy is facing. However, that does not negate the fact that duke energy totally destroyed our christmas and holiday season!  when you cut off our power, my wife was in the middle of preparing the next day's christmas dinner for our large family, half from out of town.

When you decided to turn our power back on that day, you "fried" our 5 year old furnace's main circuit board... We then, had no heat! We were fortunate enough, to at least, find a furnace service person (eastridge heating & a/c inc), who could come out late on christmas eve and diagnose the problem.  again, duke energy's power surge, when turning our power back on, destroyed our furnaces circuit board as noted by this highly skilled, qualified and experienced technician. This was despite me unplugging all appliances and electrical items in our house that I possibly could. The furnace company literally could not get a replacement circuit board, until 12/27, per my attached invoice. The net result being, that we had to move our shattered christmas 2022, to temporary housing. Our ohio family had to turn around and go back home. Much of my wife's dinner preparations were destroyed and useless.  all of this was absolutely due to duke energy's careless decision for a blackout on christmas eve. Not only that, you in fact, shut off our power again on new years eve sat 12/31, as my wife and I were trying to enjoy a nice quiet evening together at home. Your data will show that my facts are correct.  I will not complain about this rotten nye holiday night, as we both just sat around bundled-up, with candles and flashlights.

The attached invoice is from eastridge heating & a/c and is for the cost of my furnace circuit board.  this amount does not include the cost we incurred for 5 days of lodging, our lost food/dinner preparations, misc expenses and the total destruction and inconveniences of our christmas and holiday season, year 2022. I am requesting that duke energy, either pay this amount of $717.50 outright, or else deduct this amount from all future billings, until that dollar amount is met. I would prefer not to pursue this further and do not plan on participating in any class action lawsuit, but I will do whatever is necessary. I am simply asking that duke energy do the right thing. Outside of our own need, we have always supported duke energy, in all manners possible... Verbally, politically, environmentally and have fought against people and entities who constantly rail unfairly against you. Again, I am simply asking you to do the right thing.

Sincerely, ernie r magnessaccount #: [protected]

I have rooftop solar and I typically produce and put in the grid more energy than I use. My December 2022 bill showed surplus of 1,100 kWh in my account.

Here is excerpt from my December bill:
Net Metering summary
Previous Carried Forward Balance 2,164
Carried Forward Used -1,053
Carried Forward Balance 1,111 kWh
Yet my January 2023 bill did not use that surplus, to credit my usage, but instead charged me the entire amount used. No net metering summary and no credit applied.
Billing Period - Dec 07 to Jan 06 Meter - 4934754
Customer Charge $12.51
Energy Charge 459.000 kWh @ 9.772c 44.86
Fuel Charge 459.000 kWh @ 5.961c 27.36
Asset Securitization Charge 459.000 kWh @ 0.265c 1.22
Total Current Charges $85.95

I got my bill this Jan and it was almost $500!

So I called the and was told by several CSRs there was a system issue which resulted in customers being charge less and this was me getting billed for the entire year of 2022, due by Feb, or broken up over 6 months, to make up for THEIR ERROR.

So far Ive talked to 4 CSR's 2 were helpful, 2 were not, so now I wait for a supervisor.

My pipe dream is to get it cancelled completely, but I would settle for some of it removed, since it wasnt my error, or a longer term to pay it back at minimum.

I talked to a supervisor who spread it out over 12 months.

I signed up for autopay in April 2022. By doing so, I agreed for my Duke Energy bill to be taken out of my account on a monthly basis.

I did not initially receive bills from Duke Energy and therefore called Duke to ensure my account details were correct. I was told they were, and it was confirmed that I was signed up for autopsy.

In July, I received an $11,000 charge from Duke Energy. I called in to investigate the charge, was told the charge was made in error, and the charge was reversed.

I received a charge on October 11, 2022 for the amount of $864. I called in to Duke Energy to investigate and was told Duke had not been charging me monthly because of the erroneous $11,000 charge and that when Duke corrected the $11,000 error, it triggered the system to charge me in one lump sum for the entire 6 months I had been living in my home.

I did everything I was supposed to do as a customer. I signed up for autopay where I agreed to be charged on a monthly basis. I called in multiple times when I noticed Duke was not fulfilling its agreement and taking the bill out of my account monthly. Duke charged me $11,000 in error which had prevented its system from taking my bill out monthly. Duke has now, without my permission, charged me in one lump sum for a 6 month period, although I had only agreed to pay monthly.

It is Duke’s fault that I was not charged monthly. It is Duke’s fault I got an erroneous $11,000 charge. And it is Duke’s fault that I was then unabatedly charged a lump sum $864 for a 6-month period instead of the financially manageable monthly payments I signed up for. This is unethical and 6-month payments is not what I agreed to with Duke.

I have since received over $100 in overdraft fees from my bank and am placed in a status of financial hardship. I require a resolution from Duke in the form of a refund and payment plan or a discount.

I do not understand how a company could care so little about their customers, their well-being, and so little that they would cause them financial hardship even though the customer did what they were supposed to and the fault lies with the company.

We had Duke come out to do an electric assessment due to the big monthly increase. The conclusion was that our hvac system was about 60% usage is causing increase. We replaced our system about 3 years ago and the bill went down around $50 a month but months later went back up. My even billing runs 340 for a 1,600 sq. ft. house. The residence has 2 people living there and aren't home all day due to our work schedules. The neighbor hoods average is around $150 a month even the larger homes in the neighborhood. I called and found out that there was a third-party Direct Energy that was also added to my bill of $90 a month? I was told that our county automatically adds this, and we are supposed to call to cancel? I was also told that they would do an investigation because something isn't right. I got a call from a gentleman Duke pays to do an assessment and he said he can't test our meter due to the fact connectors coming from the meter need to be fixed and the expense is on us the homeowner which he quoted around $700 he thought.

For well over 15 years I have been faithfully pay8ing $8.95 a month for a “water heater protection program“. Duke Energy puts their good name behind the program which leads the consumer to expect the excellent service that Duike Energy usually offers. But there’s a catch. They don’t do the service themselves. They contract the fulfillment of these warranty plans to outside contractors. I’m 83 and my wife is 75. We have been 5 days without hot water. Shortly before the beginning of the New Year’s holiday (Thursday to be exact) I called with a repair/replacement request. The following day no one called to schedule an appointment. The next day Saturday, I called again but was unable to speak with a representative at Duke “because of the holidays”, so I left a message. By Monday morning January 2nd, I called Duke again and was told no one was available to make an appointment because it was the day after a holiday. On the phone advertisement regarding the “water heater protection program” it says you will have 24/7 service for repair or replacement. It doesn’t say…unless it’s near a holiday. What is going on here? This is almost like bait and switch! They need to make some changes.

I am a customer of Duke Energy. I live on disability once a month I cannot afford these price hikes I cannot afford my power bill as it is. Me and my family have to live in the cold because we cannot afford to pay over $100 a month for an electric bill. The only answer to this problem is for Duke Energy to stop anymore price hikes. They have enough money they are multi billionaires and they could really use the help on helping the poor income low class people. I get my bills I pay my bills on the day that I get my disability check and one hour later I am broke. I can't pay what I don't have. I don't own anything I can't go anywhere I have no extra money to even buy paper towels. Say no to Duke Energy price hikes. They have out priced America. Already get low energy income check but it's nowhere near enough. They only give me $300 credit. That doesn't even get me through the summer heat. I'm an elderly person and I cannot burn up in the summer and freeze in the winter. My health cannot take it. Say no to Duke Energy price hikes no more price hikes we cannot take it anymore and stay legal. Say no to Duke Energy price hikes.

Had $184 behind on electric bill and the current one was not due yet. Duke said I either pay in full the behind and current or they will shut me off. Problem is I was paying on the behind amounts every month with no problems> what duke does is combine those 2 amounts and breaks them up in 6 month period. Nowyou have an electric bill plus you have to pay almost $100 extra just to keep from being shut off. Duke energy is full of thieves and nazis,.

They should have every substation shut down and everyone should withhold their payments to them. Me personally, im a disabled high voltage electrician so im going to install alternative energy system and tell duke to kiss my [censored]. Bunch of woke thieves. Since alot of illegals are getting their electrical power for free.