Politics & Government

Englander Urges DWP to Stop Sending Shutoff Notices

Councilman says the department should focus on fixing the problems with its new billing system, which is delivering inaccurate bills.

By City News Service

With thousands of customers still receiving inaccurate utility bills following the rollout of a new billing system, the Department of Water and Power should stop sending out water and power shutoff notices, Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander said Friday.

Since a $162 million overhaul of its billing system in September, DWP has experienced software glitches and has had to estimate some customers' bill amounts.

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Customers who have called customer service to dispute what they see as inaccurate fees for their water and electricity use have also experienced unusually long wait times, sometimes up to 50 minutes.

A council motion submitted by Englander asks DWP to stop issuing disconnection notices while utility officials try to smooth out billing system problems. The motion will be considered at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

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"The fear of disconnection from vital utilities, particularly during the holiday season, is unfair to those who are essentially unable to resolve these problems due to inadequacies within the DWP's new billing and customer service system," Englander said.

The councilman noted he is still getting "an unprecedented level" of complaints from "ratepayers who are unable to resolve billing conflicts or inaccuracies."

DWP officials have admitted that the utility estimated the billing amounts on about 5 percent of the more than 2 million bills they sent out since the new system went live in September.

Mayor Eric Garcetti and other city leaders have been scrambling to contain the public relations damage caused by the troubled rollout of the system.

City Councilman Paul Krekorian this week said the DWP "should have engaged in a much more robust (outreach) effort to inform the public that you might see an estimated bill, and it might be wildly divergent from what you're used to receiving."

The billing system problems also prompted the union chief who represents 8,200 DWP workers to lash out at Garcetti and top DWP officials Friday, enflaming a simmering feud between the mayor and the union, which backed Garcetti's opponent Wendy Greuel in the mayoral race.

Brian D'Arcy, who heads the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18, called the billing system overhaul an "epic failure" that led to a "hostile environment" for DWP employees.

The mayor, Water and Power Commission President Mel Levine and DWP General Manager Ron Nichols "owe thousands of DWP customers an apology and an explanation about what they are doing to fix this over billing issue," D'Arcy said.

Garcetti's spokesman Jeff Millman dismissed D'Arcy's statements as politically motivated.

"Mayor Garcetti was elected to fix the problems at DWP," he said. "The voters rejected the union's control of DWP and the union should stop the political games because the campaign is over."

On Wednesday, DWP officials told members of the City Council's Energy and Environment Committee that they are working to resolve the problems in the billing system.

Officials also promised to look into implementing a "virtual hold" feature that lets customers leave their information with the customer service line, hang up, and wait for a call back when a representative becomes available.

The callback system -- which will allow customers to avoid getting put on hold for a long period of time -- is expected to "go live by early next week," Millman said.


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