Richmond mayor promises DPU billing fixes after errors, long wait times: 'Give us some time'

RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond Mayor Danny Avula is promising improvements to the city's utility billing system after more than a dozen residents contacted CBS 6 about errors, long hold times, and unanswered questions following the rollout of a new billing platform.

The city launched Project Synergy, its new utility billing system, earlier this year. Since then, CBS 6 has heard from residents reporting payments not posting to their accounts, hours-long hold times, trouble accessing the online payment portal, and more.

One Richmond resident, Elaine, said she opened her utility bill in May to find a charge of $1,439.09.

"I laughed. I thought, this is going to be the story of my life," Elaine said.

Elaine said billing problems are not new for her. She said she spent months last year trying to recover an $800 overpayment from the city, a process that took nearly a year to resolve. She said the launch of Project Synergy put her right back in the same position.

"I can't imagine how they're even going to get it straight," Elaine said.

CBS 6 reached out repeatedly to the Department of Public Utilities throughout July seeking updates. With problems still persisting, CBS 6 sat down with Mayor Avula to get answers.

Avula said the city upgraded the billing system because it had not been replaced in 40 years, but he acknowledged the rollout was difficult.

"We are committed now and in the coming months to rectify any billing issues that people have," Avula said.

The city had previously promised billing issues would be resolved by July 31, but missed that deadline. When asked about a new timeline, Avula said core problems had been addressed.

"I think a lot of the core things have been solved in terms of billing formatting and the attachment to account numbers. Like those things had been addressed by the end of July," Avula said.

When asked why customers struggled for weeks and continued to reach out to DPU for help, Avula said call volume nearly doubled after the rollout.

"That's why we had to add 15 new call takers in the month of July. In August, I mean just this past Monday we added another 17 people as call takers," Avula said.

For customers who have lost confidence in DPU because of the billing troubles, Avula had a direct message.

"Give us some time and know that we're here to resolve these issues for you. And my hope is that this time next year, if you and I sit down, Kelsey, that people say, yeah, utilities are in a much better place," Avula said.

Avula said Richmond residents should expect improvements over the next several months, with some billing corrections taking up to two billing cycles to appear. His goal is for customers to have an accurate bill within two months.

As part of the new billing system:

• All customers have been assigned new 10-digit account numbers.
• Any customer using bill pay through a financial institution should update their account number with that institution to ensure correct processing.
• Customers who pay through MyHQ do not need to update their account number.

For customers whose payments did not post correctly, Avula said DPU will remove any late fees or penalties caused by the system rollout. He encouraged residents to call the DPU customer service line at 804-646-4646 to work through their bills or email dpucustserv@rva.gov.

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