Consumers should not be on the hook for the mistakes of utility companies

Cherrish Pryor By State Rep. Cherrish Pryor (D-Indianapolis), State Rep. John L. Bartlett (D-Indianapolis) and Chair of the Indiana Black Leadership Caucus, State Rep. Earl Harris Jr. (D-East Chicago) Let us describe an issue with a business operating in our community. They& provide a service that you pay for monthly. A few months ago, they upgraded their interface system which made the service more expensive. Since that change, customers have experienced issues such& as their& monthly bills& withdrawn& ten times& from their bank account, and& waiting months for the refund. Other customers have been told they have missed several payments, despite the money being withdrawn from their bank& accounts. On top of that, more customers have seen random charges or unexplained increases up to 3 times the amount with no explanation. John L. Bartlett Why don’t consumers just switch companies or stop using the service? Here is the kicker: This service is something that everyone needs to survive, and this company is the only one allowed to sell it here. Sounds crazy? We just described the situation with our Indianapolis electric company, Applied Energy Services Corporation, or AES Indiana.& If a company makes a mistake and charges customers& multiple times...