It is; the US banking system is a mess. Everything clears through the fed, believe it or not.
There are two things you can do, however: one is request your bank set a default ACH block, and the other is to create a sub/second account from which you do all your ACH transfers for utilities and whatnot. It's a bit of an extra hassle (unless your bank allows for scheduling automatic transfers; many do) but it assures that stuff like can't happen. I've done it for a business that took paypal payments, specifically to stop paypal from being able to yoink back funds a month or two later. Within hours of a payment coming in, I'd transfer it out of the ACH-linked account into the business's main account.
There are two things you can do, however: one is request your bank set a default ACH block, and the other is to create a sub/second account from which you do all your ACH transfers for utilities and whatnot. It's a bit of an extra hassle (unless your bank allows for scheduling automatic transfers; many do) but it assures that stuff like can't happen. I've done it for a business that took paypal payments, specifically to stop paypal from being able to yoink back funds a month or two later. Within hours of a payment coming in, I'd transfer it out of the ACH-linked account into the business's main account.