Human error is blamed for a costly mistake last summer at Essex Powerlines.
Between August 1 and September 17, 2020, 2,349 customers got disconnection notices. A total of 95 had their power cut off because they were in arrears, and 69 were charged a reconnection fee.
However, more than half of the notices were based on a miscalculation. Essex Powerlines included fees for water and sewer services.
The Ontario Energy Board does not allow electricity distributors to disconnect services for non-payment of charges that are not related to electricity.
Some of the notices also failed to correctly tell customers when they could expect their power to be disconnected. They are supposed to have two weeks to pay the amount owed.
Once Essex Powerlines discovered the mistake, it notified the Ontario Energy Board, reconnected the customers, and refunded the fee.
As a result, the utility will have to pay an $18,000 fine and make a $4,750 payment to the Low-income Energy Assistance Program.
Essex Powerlines will send the impacted customers a letter. Those who were disconnected will also receive a $100 credit on their bill.
It plans to improve its internal system to avoid such mistakes in the future.