Dealing with POCO Reps

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jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
Has anyone else had a lot of trouble dealing with power company reps?

I used to deal with 1 guy at our local provider that was always helpful arranging shutdowns and reconnects, etc. Several times I needed blank covers for meter bases or long eyebolts that were hard to find. I could call him and get them. Sadly, he transferred out of town.

The last couple of years, no matter how much I try to plan with them, getting a reconnect takes all day, sometimes next day. I called a guy last week that used to be moderately helpful. Asked about getting a blank meter cover. Said he had no access and didn't know who to talk to. 20 years with the POCO and he doesn't know who handles a simple item? BS. I made a blank out of plexiglass.

As much as POCO's charge for power, I think the customers deserve better.
 
I think what you are seeing is the results of POCO's cutting costs and downsizing with the people left being asked to do multiple jobs which leaves them feeling very stressed.
 
I can assure you that there is nothing worse then dealing with Con Ed of NYC if u need to get the on the phone you need to call 12x a day for 2 weeks until someone picks up maybe. They are no doubt the worst. Waiting now so far for 3 weeks just to get a date of when there coming to give me a layout when I do get the date it will probably be for 2 months from now

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wbdvt said:
I think what you are seeing is the results of POCO's cutting costs and downsizing with the people left being asked to do multiple jobs which leaves them feeling very stressed.
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I agree wholeheartedly. I've had similar situations with all 3 POCO's in my area. The first half hour of our contractor's meetings is griping about dealings with POCO's. The other thing that seems to be an unfortunate truth is that you can never seem to get to a supervisor if you're dissatisfied with a rep's performance. In a weird kind of way that may end up being a good thing because if you "wire-brush" a rep, the chances of you getting some preference on the next job may be slim.
 
Ours here used to be great and I only dealt with one planner for the whole city, now there are multiples for both commercial and residential. They keep changing the rules every few months and then depending on the rep, depends on what the rule is.

Used to be that planners were linemen that were putting in a few more years, but now they are coming straight out of school.

On commercial projects, I'll do a release on a project and they'll tell me they are six to eight weeks out because they have to order a transformer. They knew about this job months ago and knew it was going to need a transformer, so why didn't they order it then?
 
Dealing with POCO Reps

Just depends on the area man ........

All of the Southern Company utilities i work with are pretty great, and Duke is always pretty good to me. FPL is hit or miss depending on the area, as well as local municipal systems. Some are great, some are just horrible. Same goes for all the REA's.


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cowboyjwc said:
On commercial projects, I'll do a release on a project and they'll tell me they are six to eight weeks out because they have to order a transformer. They knew about this job months ago and knew it was going to need a transformer, so why didn't they order it then?
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They had to order a transformer!
Hope one that is in use does not go bad.
Could be months for service to return.
Bunch of bull crap to me.
 
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