ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RG&E says it’s making major strides improving its customer service since the pandemic and the data it’s been reporting to state regulators seems to back that up.

“We are continuing to improve day after day, year over year,” says Christine Alexander, VP of Customer Service at RG&E. “We have put a lot of work in, the work is not over, let’s be clear but the work we’ve put in is paying off.”

For years, News10NBC Investigative Reporter Jennifer Lewke has been reporting on the multitude of billing and customer service issues RG&E customers have faced.

But the VP of Customer Service says so far this year, her reps have answered 75% of customers’ calls within 30 seconds.

Jennifer Lewke, News10NBC: “I guess it doesn’t matter how quick you answer if you don’t know how to solve the problem right? So, are the people answering the phones now, that first line of folks, are they more equipped to be able to help folks directly versus needing to escalate it up?”

Christine Alexander: “Absolutely. So, we have done a lot of work making sure our reps are skilled to answer the call in the first call, first call resolution is what we aim for.”

RG&E has issued about 1.4 million bills so far in 2025 and Alexander says less than half of 1% of them have required an adjustment.

Jennifer Lewke: “Are you at full staff when it comes to customer service?”

Christine Alexander: “We are, we are and we will continue to be there. We have a lot of calls to answer, we’ve answered over 500,000 calls already this year and so we do need help and we do rely on our partners for support but we have over 200+ agents locally.”

Now that the utility has resumed collections after winter heating season, it’s bracing for even more calls but the phone line isn’t the only option for customers who need help. “I know there are folks that may be a little embarrassed or this may be the first time in a particular situation, and they don’t want to speak to anybody about it, that’s what the website is there to do,” Alexander says.

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