Aug 17, 2021 | Customer Service
When you receive your PPL bill – or when you view it online – this month, you’ll notice it looks a little different.
We’ve made it easier than ever for you to view your balance, make payments and manage your energy use.
You gave us feedback on the existing design and we heard you loud and clear. This new version highlights the key components of your bill, the ones that are most important to you and have the potential to help you save.
- We’ve made the supply and delivery charges front and center, so you can easily view the price you’re paying for energy supply and compare it to the PPL price-to-compare.
- The new bill displays a year-over-year comparison of your energy use, so you can make more informed energy choices.
In addition to these changes, you can see your payment amount, payment due date, and more in one quick glance.
Want a step-by-step guide to viewing your new and improved PPL bill, click here.
And if you’re not already enrolled on paperless billing, now is the perfect time to give it a try. You can switch back to a paper bill at any time, but we think you’ll love how easy it is to view your bill online, get email and text alerts, and make payments. Plus, you won’t risk any paper cuts or have to deal with envelopes and stamps! Go paperless today.
Jun 24, 2021 | Customer Service
Summer is moving season in Pennsylvania. Whether you’re helping your child move into a new college house, trading your home for an apartment downtown, or building a house for your growing family, we have tips to make transferring your electric service simple.
1. Ask your realtor or landlord for the meter number at your new residence so there’s no confusion about the address.
2. Confirm with prior tenants or homeowners when they are planning to request to stop service in their names. Then you can request the same date to prevent a gap in service.
3. Decide which of the following requests works best for your family:
- Start service: You can start service at any address within our territory without stopping service at another property.
- Stop service: Moving out of the area? You can simply stop your existing service and we’ll send you a final bill.
- Transfer service: Stop service at your existing property and start service at a new home with just a few clicks.
4. Visit pplelectric.com/moving up to 40 days before you move to process a request to start, stop or transfer your electric service.
New! If someone requests to start service at your existing address, you may receive a text or email from us to confirm. If you’re moving, there’s no need to take action. If the change was requested in error, let us know so we can prevent a new customer from starting service at the wrong address.
Moving requests only take a few minutes on our website, so there’s no need to wait. Cross this off your moving to-do list and get back to packing!
Apr 27, 2021 | Bill Help
Here in Pennsylvania, you can shop for your electricity supply. Just like you would shop for a car, you compare different offers and choose what is right for you at the lowest cost. Then, PPL Electric Utilities delivers the electricity to you.
We support shopping for electricity supply, but because we deliver the electricity, we have no vested interest in which supplier you choose. But we do care whether you’re paying a reasonable rate.
We’ve been monitoring the rates shopping customers pay compared to the default rate, which is the rate charged if you do not choose a supplier.
We’ve found many of our residential customers are paying more for electricity through their supplier than they would have on the default rate. Over a one-year period, our residential customers paid about $97 million more than they would have paid on the default rate. Small business customers paid $34 million more.
This is alarming.
The data really made me stop and take a step back. How is this happening? One of the biggest issues I find is that suppliers sometimes use deceptive marketing tactics to attract customers.
I am sure we all know someone — or you yourself — who received a phone call or letter claiming to provide a new and better rate. Often these solicitations are disguised as a PPL-endorsed communication, using our logo or stating that the call is about your PPL bill. You may be told that if you switch now, you can get $300 in gift card rewards.
If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Those gift cards they offer you are often short-term discounts to mask higher rates. And the low rates they offer you are often teaser rates. They only last a short while and then they skyrocket.
Suppliers are intentionally vague in hopes you won’t understand the long-term cost increase or aren’t monitoring your electric bill closely. In fact, there are more than 26,000 PPL customers paying double the price of default energy.
I recently appeared in front of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to encourage our representatives to take steps to protect our customers from this type of deceptive marketing.
We’re committed to advocating for our customers. In the meantime, it’s critical you continue to shop smart. Read the fine print, be aware of deceptive marketing tactics and check your electric bill regularly to see how much you are being charged.
The time for change is now or Pennsylvania customers will continue paying the price. I encourage you to speak to your local officials to raise awareness about the consumer protections that are needed and continue to shop smart.
To learn more about how to check your electricity supply rate and make informed decisions, visit pplelectric.com/shopsmart today.
By: Greg Dudkin, Chief Operating Officer, PPL Corporation
Apr 27, 2021 | Customer Service
We’re committed to delivering an effortless customer experience, whether we chat on social media, speak over the phone, or interact with you on our website. We’re also committed to continuous learning and improvement. So, when we received customer feedback regarding accessibility issues with our website, we took action.
Here’s what we learned:
- A legally blind customer made us aware that she was having difficulty using her screen reader to pay her bill online.
- Another customer with red and green colorblindness was having difficulty interpreting certain message banners on our website.
Here’s what we’re doing about it:
- Updating our online bill pay section to better support those who are visually impaired.
- To help overcome the color hurdle, we’re testing and implementing designs that use larger icons, which are more noticeable and legible for users with colorblindness.
Taking it a step further:
- We’ll continue checking-in with customers who have disabilities and design our website with accessibility in mind.
- We’re establishing panels of customers who can provide us guidance and insight on accessibility issues as we’re making routine improvements to the website.
We’re continuously learning from customers who access our website differently, so we can make the web experience inclusive for all.
Apr 12, 2021 | Customer Service
Last year and the pandemic brought on many new challenges for our customers. It also brought on new challenges for our company, as the majority of customer service employees began working remotely. But with all the changes in 2020, our commitment to delivering remarkable service was stronger than ever.
Over the past year, you interacted with us millions of times across multiple channels. We offered help, answered your questions about payment agreements, programs and ways to save energy, and supported you through these difficult times.
Here’s how we did it:
Over 6.5 million web self-service transactions — Doing business through our website accounts for the largest chunk of customer contacts. And why not? You can do so many things, like manage your account, apply for help with your bill, learn great energy efficiency tips, and more.
Just under 1.5 million self-service transactions through our automated phone system — You can make a payment, report an outage, and even transfer your electric service in a few short minutes with our automated system.
Over 1.4 million phone calls — If you have a more complex need and prefer to speak with someone, we’re here to help.
About 2,400 social media responses— Did you know we answer customer questions on Facebook and Twitter? We have a dedicated team ready to respond.
Whenever and wherever you choose to contact us, we’ll be here for you.
