Montreal-area man shocked to get $2,000 bill from Hydro-Quebec due to undercharging

When Neil Brazer, a resident of Pointe-Claire, received mail from Hydro-Quebec a few months ago, he tossed the envelopes aside because he thought they were just statements.

However, when he finally opened the letter, he realized Hydro-Quebec said he owed more than $2,000 extra over his last three years of statements.

"I was shocked," he said. "I called Hydro-Quebec, spoke to customer service. He said, 'You've been audited.' They did not give me a reason why."

Brazer said Hydro-Quebec offered him to settle what he owed in a payment plan.

"I have until the end of December, which we agreed upon," he said. "Basically, in every statement that I receive, I'd give them an additional amount of about $400."

Brazer's situation is not common, according to Sylvie De Bellefeuille, a lawyer and the director of judicial services with Option consommateurs, an organization that defends the rights of consumers.

"This kind of error can unfortunately happen," said De Bellefeuille. "And if it does, there is a provision in the conditions of service of Hydro-Quebec that can deal with that [situation] and that propose the grounds on which Hydro-Quebec can bill, to what extent, and how this can be dealt with."

When spotting a billing error, Hydro-Quebec must first establish the period in which the mistake occurred.

The correction can go back a maximum of 36 months, depending on the specifics of the situation.

Hydro-Quebec details its retroactive charges in Article 4.5 of its Conditions of service.

"Normally, in those circumstances, if the person is not able to repay the full amount in one payment, an arrangement can be made without any administration fees—if there's no wrongdoing from anybody—so they can extend a reasonable period of time depending on the person's financial situation," said De Bellefeuille.

De Bellefeuille added that it's nearly impossible for consumers to prevent undercharges from happening.

"If we are consuming electricity, and we feel like we're paying a ridiculously low amount, maybe we should maybe give a heads up to Hydro-Quebec and have things checked," she said. "Otherwise, if bills seem to be normal, there's not really anything we can do about it, unfortunately."

In a statement, Gabrielle Leblanc, a spokesperson for Hydro-Quebec said there are many possible causes for a retroactive payment claim: "a faulty customer installation, a bad electrical connection, a meter that no longer communicates with Hydro-Québec, and so on."

She added that retroactive charges are very rare.

While undercharges happen, the conditions of service also have clauses for overcharges, where clients could get refunded if their electricity bills were too high.

De Bellefeuille explained that Hydro-Quebec's conditions of service are highly regulated and every update has to be presented to the province's energy board, where organizations like Option consommateurs can intervene.

"The thing is that we don't really have much of a choice when it comes to electricity," she added. "It's not like a phone company where you can choose from one provider to another. In Quebec, if you live in Montreal, if you want to have electricity, you have a choice between Hydro-Quebec or Hydro-Quebec. This is why this contract is highly regulated."

In the case of the undercharge clause, Leblanc said she understands the difficulty of the situation, but that retroactive charges are needed to ensure fairness across the electricity grid. De Bellefeuille echoed her sentiment.

"We have to remember that, when we use electricity, we have to pay for it. It's fair for everybody," she said. "If someone is underpaying, everybody else is going to have to suffer for that. This is why the contract does allow for Hydro-Quebec to charge if there is a mistake. But still, it is also possible to have a payment arrangement."

In the meantime, for Brazer, receiving an extra charge out of the blue was still financially challenging despite the payment plan.

"It's tight. I mean, everyone's bills have gone up, the taxes go up, Hydro goes up, gas goes up," he said. "So yeah, it's tight. We'll make it happen. I will pay it off. But, it's just basically something that's not planned for and it was very unexpected."