DTE Energy stops auto-enrolling customers in paperless billing after AG raises concerns - Detroit News
DTE stops paperless billing auto-enrollment after AG raises concerns
DTE Energy stops auto-enrolling customers in paperless billing after AG raises concerns
Carol Thompson
DTE Energy has stopped automatically enrolling customers into its eBill program after some customers incurred late fees, the company announced Thursday.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel raised concerns about the automatic enrollment program in an Oct. 6 letter to the Michigan Public Service Commission. She said customers unaware they were placed into the paperless billing program were at risk of incurring late fees.
Customers did not have to opt in to the eBill program, Nessel said in a Friday press release. They had to opt out of the program, and the opt-out option was "at the bottom of the unsolicited e-mail, and thus likely not to be read by the customer."
Anyone who incurred a late fee immediately following their transition to paperless billing will be credited for the fee, DTE said Thursday.
"I appreciate that DTE responded promptly to the specter of a regulatory investigation into this obvious issue, after I alerted them to the potential harm to consumers last week," Nessel said. "My office strives to protect consumer pocketbooks and to ensure that customers are treated fairly. This was an unfair practice that piled late fees and shutoff notices onto unsuspecting gas and electricity customers just as the weather began to turn in Michigan, and it was appropriate for DTE to apologize and reverse course."
Nessel said customers who were selected for the eBill trial appear to have shared their email address with DTE.
"We implemented the eBill Paperless Billing program in an attempt to reduce paper waste and ultimately save money for all DTE customers," a company spokesperson said. "Despite our positive intentions, our execution missed the mark. We appreciate concerns raised by the Attorney General, and moving forward we will encourage customers to opt in to participate in the eBill program, but we will not proactively opt in customers who do not take action to opt out."
DTE's paperless billing program sends customers their bills over email instead of the mail. It reduces 175,000 pounds of paper every month, the utility said, and reduces the cost of billing.
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