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Northland unhappy with watchdog orders

Lauren McKeon
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, May 06, 2009

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Jeff Barbutza, manager of Northland Utilities in Yellowknife, will have his hands full this month.

Northland is working on a response to the recent Public Utilities Board (PUB) order to refund or credit overcharged customers and improve customer service. The PUB launched an inquiry in February.

NNSL Photo/Graphic

Kelly Pottinger, left, sits on the futon with her daughters Katrina, 3, and Kaitlynn, 13. Pottinger's power bills nearly quadrupled from December to January. She said the public utility board's recent decision to refund overcharged customers is a great move. - NNSL file photo

"Do we feel the directives are a good decision? No, we don't," said Barbutza.

He declined to go into detail on which directives the company takes particular issue with - there are 18 - until Northland releases its official response.

"What I can tell you is we are reviewing the board's directives at this time," he said.

Barbutza did say he felt there was a lack of information provided to prove spikes in customers' usage was the fault of the company and not the users.

"Every customer is unique. They all use different consumption," he said.

He added the company has not figured out the cause of higher consumption for those customers involved in the PUB decision, adding certain customers have not provided the required information.

Barbutza said the company will release its response in the coming weeks.

The company was slapped on the wrist again on April 27, after the board was notified some customers involved in the inquiry had received disconnection notices in March when they weren't supposed to.

Northland blamed the notices on the company's automatic billing system, which is programmed to send out disconnection letters based on certain parameters.

Four customers involved in the inquiry received the notices, but the company has said it made no move to actually cut the power.

One of those customers, Michelle Beckwith, said she doesn't buy it.

"I think (Northland Utilities) is full of it. I had expected them to respond saying it was a computer glitch, so it was no surprise when this was their response to the PUB on the disconnection notices they sent," she said.

Beckwith is one of several customers who will receive a refund for the overcharge. Her power bill tripled over the winter months, hitting $926.86 for January's usage, up from $330.76 in January 2008.

Kelly Pottinger was also involved in the inquiry over skyrocketing power bills. She received a disconnection notice while the PUB was still examining customers' usage from November 2008 to February 2009.

Pottinger said she wasn't surprised to see the notice - she was given a head's up when she called the company to discuss her bill - but still doesn't know why her bills were so high.

Her bills nearly quadrupled from January to February, despite no one living in the downstairs area of her house during construction. She said it didn't even have working plugs.

"(Northland) doesn't know what I have plugged in (that is causing the increase). I don't know either. Hello, come help," she said.

She called the PUB decision "great" and is looking into eco-friendly alternatives, like solar power and wood pellet boilers for her home.

"Anything to make my power bill smaller," she said.

PUB chair Joe Acorn declined to comment Monday on whether he was satisfied with Northland's response over the disconnection notice, saying it will be included when - and if - the PUB releases a decision in the coming days.

In the meantime, Beckwith, who has moved to Edmonton, hopes this is the end of bill troubles for Northland customers.

"(Northland) should be held accountable for their actions as the PUB has found, and should continue to be held accountable by the people of Yellowknife and surrounding areas," she said.