DPU suspends water cutoffs as billing glitches continue
Some customers of the Richmond Department of Public Utilities are still experiencing billing problems as the department works to transition to new backend systems.
On Monday, DPU announced it was suspending water cutoffs and the installation of flow restrictors until the billing issues can be resolved. Any erroneous late fees will also be removed from customer accounts, according to DPU.
“The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is aware that some recent utility payments are not currently reflected in customer account balances due to a payment processing issue,” the department said in a news release Monday evening. “DPU is actively working with this payment processor to identify and resolve any remaining payment posting delays as quickly as possible.”
As part of the system transition, DPU previously said customers would be getting new account numbers, but stressed that the city would still be able to keep tabs on payments using old account numbers.
Some customers recently received text messages indicating they had an overdue balance and promoting signups for monthly payment plans, even if the last month’s bill was paid. Those messages appeared to be tied to new account numbers.
City officials said earlier Monday that they were still looking into the issue to find out what had happened. The news release that went out at 5:40 p.m. didn’t go into great detail about what kinds of issues the department was working through or how they might impact customers.
Officials said customers who have already submitted a payment and “received confirmation that it was not processed” should not send the payment a second time.
On June 1, the city said DPU was aware of a “system glitch” that was preventing some payments from being posted to customers’ accounts. Two days later, the city signaled the glitch had been fixed.
A few weeks later, the issues appear to be lingering.
“DPU appreciates customers’ patience and understanding as work continues to resolve the issue,” Monday’s release said. “Additional updates will be provided as information becomes available.”
Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org
