Most of us have seen the headlines or heard the news reports of customers falling for scams.

Someone comes to your door and claims to be from Consumers Energy. They ask to see your bill. Or they ask for private information like your account number, claiming they might save you money.

Or maybe you receive a phone call claiming you are overdue on your bill and need to pay immediately with a prepaid gift card or you’ll be shut off.

The scammers’ tactics vary, but they all have the same goal in mind – getting your personal data and your money.

Outsmart the scammers by learning to recognize scams and protect your personal data.

A Consumers Energy employee might come to your house to shut off electric or gas service for safety, security or non-payment, but we will never demand immediate payment or threaten you. And a Consumers Energy employee wouldn’t ever ask for your bill – why would we when we already have it?

If you are talking to a Consumers Energy employee on the phone, we may ask you to verify your address or the last 4 digits of your social security number to confirm we are talking to the right person, but we will never ask for payment information or other private data.

In fact, we have data privacy principles to follow to ensure your private data stays just that, private:

  • We’re all becoming more aware of how much data exists about us in the digital age. Consumers Energy is committed to gathering, storing and using only the data we need to deliver on our promise of world class performance and hometown service.  

And when we don’t need it anymore? We securely delete it. 

  • We will never share your personal information with individuals or third parties without your explicit consent. Want to give permission to family members to access your account information? We have a process for that!
  • While we do contract with vendors to provide your energy services, we share only the minimum necessary information and hold those companies to the same industry-leading privacy and security standards we hold ourselves to. 
  • While we won’t share your data without your permission, you have a right to access and share your energy consumption data at any time. Customers often want to see their energy consumption information to better understand their personal usage — you can always log in to your Consumers Energy account and access the Energy Dashboard. Want to share it directly with someone else? You can do that, too! Visit Green Button Connect after logging into your online account. 

Consumers Energy has a dedicated team of Privacy Professionals who protect your information every day. Have questions for us? Contact 1-800-477-5050. 

Learn more about our privacy policy here: https://www.consumersenergy.com/privacy