ComplaintsforFortis Alberta

• Initial Complaint

  15/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I would like to file an official complaint against Fortis Alberta for their unethical business practices. Recently, my power was disconnected due to a dispute with my power retailer. Despite claiming to have sent a warning letter, I never received it. On March 12th, 2024, my power abruptly ceased, and upon contacting Fortis Alberta, I was informed there was no outage. Instead, my retailer had disconnected it over an overdue balance. They mentioned installing a new meter that operates remotely via computer. After negotiating a payment arrangement with my retailer, my power was restored within an hour. However, I was shocked to learn of a $300 reconnection fee if I didn't wait 72 hours, compared to $170 if I did. Given the current economic challenges and tax hikes, this fee felt unjustifiable, especially in the era of electronic meters controlled by computer systems. It seems Fortress Alberta is exploiting struggling Albertans by imposing outdated fees that no longer reflect modern technology. They no longer need to send a technician to the house. Charging over $300 to push a button on a computer screen is outrageous. I believe the Better Business Bureau has a responsibility to safeguard the public from price gouging and corruption, particularly when people are already facing financial hardships. This behavior is nothing short of corruption and greed, preying on vulnerable individuals trying to provide for their families.

  Business response

  28/03/2024

  We received a complaint submitted by *************************** to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) about fees charged for reconnecting his power, which was disconnected for customer-driven reasons -failure to pay electricity charges. Davids retailer sent us a disconnection order. FortisAlberta, in disconnecting and reconnecting ****************** acted reasonably and within the bounds of the applicable regulations and laws. When we received the disconnection order, we did not fully disconnect the power. We only limited the power so he can still run his furnace, fridge, and light because we have a Winter Disconnect Policy which provides that we dont fully disconnect power in the winter or very cold weather conditions. Contrary to ****** claims, the reconnection fee charged was not arbitrarily imposed by FortisAlberta. FortisAlberta is a fully regulated company and does not arbitrarily fix charges; our charges are determined and approved by our regulator, the Alberta ******************** (***). The fees are also not outdated, as the fees we currently charge, including the fees ***** complained about were recently approved by the *** for the year 2024. More importantly,the fees are standard and charged across the board to all our customers. 

  A robust response with a more detailed timeline of events has been attached as a word document.

• Initial Complaint

  24/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I've had my application for a bidirectional meter installation submitted Oct 25, as I had solar panels installed. I am unable to utlize them, because with the current meter I will be charged if any excess gets produced to the grid. I was quoted 60 businessdays, which even then seemed excessive as this is a 2 minute job. I've called several times trying to see a timeline on when I can finally turn on my panels. Its been constant stonewalling and I'm unable to get an answer about any other information or paperwork they will require, they even said if my paper work isn'tcorrect there will be further delays.I get the impression they will continue to delay this process.I have no where really else to go, I'm never allowed to speak with the department and I have no idea how else to escalate this.This has not been an issue with anyone else that I have spoke with that required similar services from other energy providers.-*******

  Business response

  26/01/2024

  Hello,

   

  FortisAlberta has seen considerable growth in Microgeneration in Alberta for the past two years with growth being 2021-409 installations, 2022- 840 installations and 2023 **** installations. We could not have forecasted this type of growth, but we are now staffed up to the right levels of employees that administer Microgeneration. One of the largest problems that we are finding are incomplete applications as well as applications missing pertinent information that prevents us from getting to the actual applications as we need to walk people through how to apply properly. This is essential for the safety and reliability of our Electrical Distribution Network (Wires).

  I this case the customers application came to us via his solar consultant on October 25, 2023, and we created the file on January 24th, **** (We are currently at a 60-business day wait) due to the volumes of requests. There were many errors on the application for which we had to work with the consultant on some missing information. Ironically this file was being worked on at the time of receiving this complaint and the bidirectional meter has been dispatched and should be complete within the next 3 days.

  If the customer wants more information, please forward my name and phone number.

  Thanks

  *** ************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩