Richmond officials say they’re working to resolve an issue with faulty utility meter data by delaying and lowering bills for thousands of South Richmond customers impacted by the problem.

In a news release Tuesday, the city’s Department of Public Utilities said the erroneous meter read data was spotted on Oct. 17. After further review, DPU is planning to send out one bill to “less than 5,000 customers” affected that will reflect charges for both the previous and current billing cycles.

To make up for the inconvenience, DPU said, impacted customers will only be charged base fees for one billing cycle instead of two, which will knock $40-50 off their bill. Customers will still be charged for their actual utility usage for both cycles.

“Our goal is to deliver best in class service to our customers. That starts with consistent and reliable billing, but that doesn’t mean issues won’t arise,” Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II said in the release. “Service rises to elite status, when we proactively correct issues and our customers can have confidence that we will do what it takes to get it right. This small adjustment is the first step in building that transparency and trust with our customers.” 

Officials said the city is in the process of upgrading its meter reading technology to boost reliability going forward.

“DPU is committed to serving our customers and ensuring billing accuracy, I am very appreciative to the staff that have worked tirelessly to resolve this as quickly as possible,” said DPU Director Scott Morris. “DPU continues to enhance our billing and utility infrastructure citywide, all of our customers will continue to benefit from better, more efficient technology.”

Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org