CenterPoint Energy

Vectren massively overbilled us due to its own errors. We have been trying to fix this by contacting Vectren repeatedly, yet it will not fix this.
VECTREN proactively contacted us back in July to install, in the words of the person who called, "a new digital wireless meter the readers can read from the road without getting out of their car." It wasn't a choice: VECTREN said it needed to do this. So of course we said yes, the installer came out, installed it, said it was up and running, and left. It is just my wife and I here and since winter weather ended, our bills have been extremely low, in the $20s, because all we are using gas for is to heat hot water. But the very next bill that arrived in the mail after installation of the new device, dated 8/2, was $1,043about 50X higher than normal! We called VECTREN'S offices the very next day. ***, badge #XXXXX, said it was obviously a serious error; he'd get to the bottom of it, get it corrected, and that we should wait for our corrected bill. We never heard from *** or anyone, but the evening of 9/5 we did get an automated call from VECTREN "to discuss our account." So the next day, 9/6, we spoke with someone at VECTREN who said that yesterday, 9/8, was his last day, but that his teammate, "***," would take care of it and would be calling us. He also said our next bill would arrive in a few days, and "it will mention disconnection for non-payment, but disregard it, and don't pay anything, we're getting this fixed; I'm putting a hold on your account so no such action can be taken and it allows us time to get this fixed." We did not ask this person what his name was, but I asked him what his new job is, and he said it is with a plastics company there in Evansville. He said he believes VECTREN's massive error occurred in what someone carelessly wrote down when the new meter was installed: the true 4-digit reading began with first digit "9," but someone carelessly wrote the first digit as "8," and that is what did it. This person sounded a LOT more on top of things than *** on our first call, but we have no assurance that a guy who was leaving the company in two days has actually taken care of this, either. And, just as he said, the next bill did show up, with an even higher total billing amount, because no one at VECTREN has lifted a finger to do anything about this. Here are the facts: 1 VECTREN proactively contacted us to install something new at our residence. 2 Some combination of careless errors associated with VECTREN's installation of the new device caused VECTREN to massively overbill us, presenting us with a bill staggeringly larger than any bill we have had since we moved in October 2016. 3 VECTREN should have mechanisms in its systems or human mechanisms in place such that when it sees something like this it contacts the customer. Not only is it hitting them with a bill that cannot possibly be accurate; something like this could be evidence of a gas leak on their property, thus endangering the lives and health of VECTREN customers. Yet NO ONE said a word about this until WE contacted VECTREN. 4 We have now contacted VECTREN twice trying to get this situation corrected. Yet here we sit, 9/9/2017, just a week or two from "disconnection," per VECTREN's latest erroneous invoice, with no resolution and no word from anyoneother than one guy whose word was worthless, and another guy who effective today is no longer employed by VECTREN. 5 VECTREN is committing incredible harm to its customers, and citizens of the State of Indiana who...and here's the kicker in all of this...HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG.