Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. is temporarily expanding call center operations this weekend and waiving penalties for unpaid bills after some customers reported glitches on the company’s website.

The site’s essential functions including bill payment were still in place this week amid reports of sporadic issues possibly tied to a system upgrade, said spokesperson Nick Alexopulos. Some customers who tried to pay their bills online reported intermittent issues with the website refreshing or timing out. Others saw random characters appear where the payment amount should have been.

The state’s largest gas and electric utility recently launched a major upgrade for its customer information system in mid- to late-February. IT experts this week were still working out “last-mile technical issues,” Alexopulos said.

In the meantime, customer service operations will extend through weekend from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. BGE said it would suspend late payment charges and service disconnections.

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Alexopulos also reminded customers to remain vigilant against energy-related scams in which imposters call up customers and demand immediate payment by threatening a service interruption. The company said it received about 4,400 complaints in 2023 amounting to $380,000 in financial losses.

“The system should work flawlessly, that’s what our customers deserve,” he said. “We deeply appreciate their patience while we fix these issues.”

It’s unclear how many customers around the region are affected by the issues. Alexopulos said the company believes the number is small based on the low volume of calls coming into customer service lines this week.

BGE asks customers who experience trouble with their accounts to call 1-800-685-0123.

Lillian Reed

lillian.reed@thebaltimorebanner.com

Lillian Reed

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