Coast Electric reverses course, will not make customers pay for billing mistake

Coast Electric has reversed course and is now saying it will not make customers who were undercharged pay for the billing mistake.

In a message posted to social media, Coast Electric said, “We value the input of our members, the owners of our cooperative, and after receiving feedback and listening to concerns, we realize our attempt to collect from the 5% of members affected by a billing error was the wrong course of action.

“We will not be adding these charges to our members’ bills. This was our error, and when we make a mistake, we are willing to admit it and change course.”

Coast Electric said it will “find other ways to reduce expenses that do not affect our members’ service or reliability to make up the difference.”

The statement went on to say they apologize for the inconvenience and hardship the decision caused its customers.

“We have a strong record of being advocates for our members and we hope the goodwill we have built over 85 years will not be diminished by this error. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and hardship this decision has caused. We are taking steps to ensure a mistake like this does not happen again.”

Coast Electric also said it has established more checks and balances to ensure a mistake like this does not happen again.

WXXV will have more on this report as information comes in.