Richmond utility billing issues linger despite city fix claim
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Some Richmonders are still having issues with city utility bills nearly a month after officials said problems tied to the new billing system had been resolved.
Why it matters: Locals are complaining about missed and duplicate bills, past-due notices, payments not reflected in accounts and hours-long waits for customer service, per an Axios review of dozens of social media posts.
Catch up quick: Richmond Department of Public Utilities in late May launched a new billing and back-end system that officials said would improve service.
- DPU called the rollout a success, touting its pre-launch "abundance of testing."
- But residents started reporting issues almost immediately. The city acknowledged that some customers' payments weren't posting to their accounts even though DPU had received the payments.
- In mid-June, the city said that issue — which affected about 15,000 residents who pay their bills through two vendors — was resolved. The city also said it would automatically waive any late fees.
The latest: Among the problems locals are lamenting on social media:
- Payments clearing banks but not appearing in DPU accounts
- Automatic payments not working
- Inability to access online accounts
- Paper bills arriving despite customers enrolling in paperless billing
- Different balances appearing across city payment portals
- Long wait times to reach DPU
Case in point: I've paid my DPU bills through my bank for more than a decade, but last week I received a paper bill saying my account was past due and that I owed $327.15 for May and June.
- I paid through my bank immediately, and the funds cleared my account last week. But the city's online portals show conflicting balances: One says I owe the full $327.15, while the other lists an outstanding balance of $1.28.
Zoom out: It's unclear how many customers continue to be affected.
- The city didn't respond to Axios' questions, but pointed to updates it made Tuesday to the FAQ it posted last month.
Zoom in: The FAQ suggests issues persist with payments posting, specifically for customers who use AutoPay through MyHQ or bill pay through their bank.
- Payments due in late May, June or early July were delayed in posting but were received and will be processed, per the FAQ.
- Any late fees incurred will be automatically reversed.
- Bank bill pay is back to normal and MyHQ AutoPay will resume on July 10.
Plus, the city asked customers to ensure their accounts have DPU's new mailing address, which changed last year.
- And to make sure they've updated their online banking and payment vendors with the new DPU account number they received as part of the May transition.
Yes, but: New account numbers were supposed to appear on customers' June bill, which some customers didn't receive.
- The city created an online account lookup as an alternate option, but that appears to be wonky: Axios repeatedly received error messages when entering variations of "Virginia" before the tool locked the account.
What's next: Richmonders should expect their July bills to "look slightly different," per the city.
- The city's new utility rates went into effect on July 1, raising the average bill by around $14.