The News 8 On Your Side investigative team continues to dig into higher-than-expected PPL Electric Utilities bills.In this article, we review customer complaints, growing frustrations, PPL's response, and we explain simple ways you may even be able to start saving money right now on your electric bill.Bookmark this article. The 8 On Your Side team is staying on this story. As they uncover new information about this problem and the PUC investigation into PPL, we will link to it on this page.What's causing the higher electric bills?In early January, we started hearing from viewers who saw their electric bills double or even triple.Two issues may have contributed to the skyrocketing costs: estimated bills and a rate increase. The high bills prompted the PPL president to send a letter to customers on Jan. 31, apologizing for billing issues and its responsiveness to customers.Hours later, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission announced it was launching an investigation into PPL's billing practices.'They dropped the ball'Ed Frey was one of the customers who first contacted News 8 On Your Side about soaring electric bills.He said his bill for December was 38% higher than expected. PPL said technical issues prevented it from communicating directly with a lot of customers' meters, so bills were being estimated.A PPL spokesperson issued a statement, saying, "These estimates were based on actual electricity use data during the same billing period last year. We ask that customers pay the estimated bill amount, as any difference between the estimated bills and actual usage will be reconciled when the next bill is issued."But Frey said the estimate for his December 2022 bill was way off compared to the previous year.He was concerned about customers who won't be able to pay for PPL's technical issues."They have nearly a million and a half customers. The PUC has them as the highest customer supplier number in the state. They have to be better than this," he said.Frustration mountsThroughout January, more and more customers contacted News 8 On Your Side about high electric bills.One viewer who emailed News 8 On Your Side wrote, "Our bill went from $550 in November to $900 for the month of December. I'm retired and can't keep paying bills like that."Another viewer said, "We used less electricity this year compared to last year, and our bill increased from roughly $400 to over $700 for the same time period."Customers who received estimated bills have the right to read their own meter and report the actual number to PPL.But viewers told us that when they tried to report meter readings to PPL over the phone, they were on hold for an hour or more.How to cut costsNews 8 On Your Side compared two bills to show you how you can lower your bill.One customer's bill went from $663 – an estimated bill in December – to $1,057 in January. This customer is paying 14.61 cents, which is PPL's default rate.Another customer paid an estimated bill of $122 in December. The bill in January is $30.The difference is that the rate the second customer pays – 8 cents – didn't change because she doesn't have the PPL default rate. She secured a lower rate in May.Shopping for electric rates can help you save money.Go to PAPowerSwitch.com, which allows you to shop and compare rates and the length of contracts.PPL president addresses customers PPL President Stephanie Raymond released a letter on Jan. 31, reaching out to customers about the billing issues and rate increase. Read the letter here.In the letter, she admitted the utility has fallen short in both its billing and responsiveness to customers.She said the technical issue that led to the estimated bills has been resolved, and impacted customers have received a corrected bill or an adjustment on the next bill.Raymond wrote, "We will not shut off power to residential and small-business customers for non-payment through March 31. We are waiving all late fees in January and February."Raymond also said more customer service agents are being added to answer customer calls.PUC announces investigationThe same day that Raymond released her letter, the Pennsylvania PUC said it had launched an investigation into the unusually high PPL bills. Investigators will look into the accuracy and integrity of PPL's billing practices.Consumers who believe PPL hasn't adequately addressed their issues or believe that the utility hasn't responded appropriately to their situation should contact the PUC's Bureau of Consumer Services at 1-800-692-7380.Also, consumers who aren't able to reach PPL customer service representatives or don't receive a response from PPL should contact BCS to report those issues.PPL response to PUC investigationPPL shared a statement with WGAL regarding the PUC investigation. Here is the full statement:"As PPL Electric Utilities shared in a letter to customers today, energy prices have risen sharply over the past two years. This included a December 1 increase in our default rate for electricity supply, also known as our price to compare."Higher energy prices have been the primary driver of higher energy bills, and PPL Electric’s default rate reflects our cost to buy power for customers who don’t shop for electricity supply. We pass this cost on to customers at no profit to us."While we don’t control the price of electricity supply, we continue to share steps that customers can take to potentially save money and manage their electric bills. This includes encouraging customers to visit www.PAPowerSwitch.com to shop for a better deal on electricity supply."Separate from higher prices, a significant number of PPL Electric Utilities customers recently received bills reflecting estimated electricity usage. This was caused by a technical issue that temporarily prevented our billing system from accessing data collected by our meters. We have since fixed this issue."Given an unusually large number of estimated bills sent in late December, we are taking steps to support our customers. We are waiving late fees for January and February. Any late fees already charged to customers in January will be credited to their accounts. We will not shut off power for non-payment from now through March 31. We are adding more agents to our Call Center to address customer calls regarding their electric bills, and we continue to offer payment plans and assistance for customers who are struggling to pay their bill."Estimated bills sent in recent weeks were based on historical electric usage. If customers’ bills were based on estimates that wound up being higher or lower than their actual usage, we have adjusted their next bills so they only pay for the electricity they use."We will cooperate fully with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in their investigation."Get WGAL alerts sent to your phoneiPHONE: Download the WGAL app in the App Store.ANDROID: Download the WGAL app on Google Play.