It's important to keep records when you pay your utility bills, even if you move or sell property.
Since early November, Public Service Company of New Mexico has handed over a whopping 40,000 accounts to three local collection agencies.
The bills belong to customers who had discontinued service for various reasons.
"If people move mid-month, they may not realize they still owe something," said PNM spokeswoman, Julie McCabe.
Customers whose bills are in dispute have to furnish proof of payment, such as a canceled check, or their accounts are considered unpaid, said McCabe.
The reason for the large number of accounts sent to collection stems from a problem with the Banner billing system PNM began using in November 1998.
The new billing system enabled PNM to combine bills for gas and electricity customers.
"We recognized there was a problem with Banner and switched off the delinquency function upfront," McCabe said.
PNM restored the delinquency function in October 1999. Most of the bills sent to collection were from that month to the end of June 2000, but some fell outside that period.
Average amounts are between $150 and $300.
Before the problem with the Banner system, PNM usually sent overdue accounts for collection on a quarterly basis.
McCabe said PNM makes several attempts to contact customers before referring unpaid bills to collection agencies.
"Sometimes if they move, we can't track them down," she said.
This is not the first time the Banner system has been blamed for billing problems. In 1999, PNM said, 66,000 bills were delayed because by the new system. More recently, 477 bills were delayed because of malfunctioning meters.

ABQ Journal

-- Anonymous, January 01, 2001