I have been with PWC since 2009. At the time of wr...

I have been with PWC since 2009. At the time of writing that is seven years. I had them when I had an apartment and have had them at my home due to this over-regulation allowing only one power provider per area. Customer service is generally abysmal and they jack up rates so they can do what they want with the extra funds, like building a giant building which is supposed to be "green", or purchasing thousands of the new "smart" meters which can be used to spy on you (Google this, I am in IT and have seen this to be true in person) and are the cause of poor sleep and house fires. They then save bundles of cash while simultaneously getting rid of employees which read older style, reliable, safe meters. In spite of saving all that cash, they want to charge a fee to customers keeping reliable, mechanical meters, an action struck down in several states already.

The customer service is probably the worst part. They like to charge you to go paperless. Every other company on the planet gives you a break for going paperless, but these guys want to CHARGE for using a card and electronic billing. This means you need to go to the bank or an ATM, pull out your cash, go to the office, and pay them in person. What a pain! Get with the 21st century and let us go paperless for free! You will save money on the bills you don't need to print!

Not only that, but you may speak to somebody one day and request an extension or be told that things are fine and have your power cut off the next! Then the person you speak to has no record of the previous conversation or they say that the person you spoke to was not authorized to tell you that. Is it my job now to know EXACTLY who to speak to every time I call in? These guys need to get their act together! Twice I spoke to people and was told different stories.

Finally, the water they deliver is treated WAY too often. It smells like pool water (think amonia or chlorine) coming out of my shower head. I buy bottled water due to this. Oh, and they charge sewer based solely on water use. This means that should you wash your car or truck, you get charges more for sewer despite not using it! My advice is to say screw it and drill your own well to plumb into your spigots. This way you can water the lawn or wash your car without a $5,000 sewer bill.

My advice is to consider PWC the single most reason not to move into an area serviced by them. Seriously, I'll take a higher crime area to get away from these fools. I have firearms and am trained in how to use them. Sadly, there is nothing I can do against PWC because they're my only choice so screw me! Oh, and if it isn't in the notes, YOU are stuck with any fees because the support is so perfect they always fill out notes. I have had Four County Electric (Bladen County, NC) and Progress Energy (Raleigh, NC) and had ZERO problems with either. I loved them both. This is the first utilities provide I actually hate. I hope you do not hit hard times either, as they do not work with you and you may be without power.

I will say this in their defence however. They have a fairly stable power grid and the ONLY time I lost power for any length of time in the past seven years is when Hurricane Matthew came through. It was up one day after though. Their line crews deserve a pat on the back for that.