The New York State Department of Public Service announced Wednesday that it has expanded its investigation into New York State Electric & Gas Corp and Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. for potential mismanagement of their utilities’ billing systems and protocols.

The department says electric and gas customers across more than 40 counties were potentially impacted by billing issues.

The DPS says issues became known with the two utilities’ billing systems when the DPS began to see a notable spike in customer complaints. According to the DPS, the number of consumer complaints against NYSEG and RG&E was more than 4,700, 60% more than the two previous years combined.

According to the DPS, department staff began a review and an investigation related to a Sept. 2022 change to the companies’ customer information and billing system. The DPS says complaints they received range from incorrect bills being sent to consumers or very late bills being sent.

“Ensuring customer bills are accurate is the singular responsibility of the utility, and this expanded investigation of RG&E and NYSEG will determine what went wrong and how will it be resolved,” DPS CEO Rory M. Christian. “Our bottom line is simple: we hold utilities accountable for any billing errors and we will require the companies to hold customers harmless.”

The Department’s Consumer Advocate plans to host public forums in affected areas beginning in January.

NYSEG and RG&E released a statement on Wednesday saying they will cooperate with the investigation:

“NYSEG and RG&E received notice of the Department of Public Service investigation this afternoon. While NYSEG and RG&E have not been immune from the effects of COVID on our utility, such as a severe staffing shortage, we understand the impacts some of our customers have faced with their bills. In fact, we have already made significant progress in reducing customer issues by hiring new billing specialists and streamlining our billing processes. But make no mistake, along with providing safe, reliable service to more than 1,290,000 customers and responding to and restoring service following historic storms, addressing billing issues continues to be a top priority, and we are committed to ensuring customer bills are sent out timely and accurately. We will fully cooperate with the Department’s investigation.”