Emails show problems with Richmond's rollout of new billing system started day one

RICHMOND, Va. — Troubles and confusion surrounding Richmond's rollout of a new public utilities billing system started the very day the system launched, according to internal communications reviewed by CBS 6.

For months, Richmond residents have been voicing significant frustrations with their water and gas bills. Customers have reported inaccurate balances, confusing account information, the inability to access payment portals, and more.

“I discovered I had two accounts, and one listed over $600, and the other about $100, so I was very confused," one resident told CBS 6 in July.

In August, CBS 6 also interviewed a local business owner who said the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) withdrew, through an autopay function, roughly $60,000 from her bank account for an erroneous charge.

"This is obviously wrong. This is crazy," she said.

Many of the issues customers experienced were tied to the city's transition to a new billing system, and top city officials have acknowledged they made mistakes rolling it out.

WATCH: Richmond mayor vows DPU billing fixes after Project Synergy rollout

The city entered into contracts worth $15.7 million with software vendor Oracle for the two-year-long project, which launched in late May. The city has also been working with its payment and bill print vendor KUBRA, under an annual services contract.

When asked on Monday for the total costs for the project, DPU spokesperson Rhonda Johnson said Thursday she was still working to confirm exact figures.

To try and get a better understanding of what went wrong, CBS 6 submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in August for reports, memos, and internal communications.

The city initially said it would charge over $1,200 to provide those records. CBS 6 is still negotiating that cost estimate with the city.

In the meantime, the city provided email records from the week the system launched that it released in response to a FOIA request from The Richmonder. Here's what they show.

Error messages began pouring in on May 26, the day the new billing system went live, according to the emails.

In fact, DPU Deputy Director Jamie Porter said she had received 80 of them by 10 a.m.

Minutes later, a contractor wrote that the new customer cloud service appeared to "have a few issues." Those issues included the inability to display bills and schedule appointments for service orders, the emails showed.

• DPU spokesperson Rhonda Johnson told CBS 6 the error alerts were generated when users clicked on their bills prior to the new system going live. Johnson said this function was "never planned for integration" and that the bills were available in a separate system.
  

Also on the morning of launch day, DPU's payment plan vendor Promise, which runs a program for customers who have fallen behind on their bills, identified past-due inconsistencies on accounts along with other blank or missing information, according to the emails.

The vendor wrote it would stop enrolling new customers into payment plans until the data had been verified.

Max Pop, a DPU programs and operations manager, responded that the information "came from our new production system following data migration this past weekend."

• Johnson told CBS 6 the errors were in the files that DPU exchanged with Promise but had no material impact on customers' bills. Johnson said that information would have only been used in Promise's portal, not the customer cloud service, which is the official record for all customer account information.
  

The next day, on May 27, DPU staff found Promise Pay customers being inaccurately assessed late fees, the emails showed. An Oracle representative responded that the issue was "conversion related" and that all late charges would be cancelled.

• Johnson told CBS 6 that "all late fees associated with any system glitches were removed."
  

On May 28, Porter sent an email to the Oracle team congratulating them on "successfully implementing" the new system, which she noted will better serve customers for years to come.

"Congratulations to everyone involved in this significant accomplishment!" she wrote.

Yet, over the next few months, customer complaints increased, residents grew frustrated with billing issues, and city officials acknowledged missteps in the rollout.

During a September press conference, Mayor Danny Avula said while all information in the system has always been accurate, the translation of that information into a bill was not.

"We mess up, we fess up," Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald said at the press conference. "Stick with us. We're committed to getting it right."

CBS 6 reached out to both vendors on this project for comment for this story.

KUBRA said its role was focused on taking data finalized "further upstream in the system" and presenting that on customer bills.

"We recognize this has been a difficult transition for Richmond utility customers, and we've been working closely with the City throughout to identify and resolve any issues. Because our role is limited to presentment rather than the underlying account, billing, or rate calculations, we'd encourage you to connect with the City of Richmond for the fuller picture of the project," KUBRA Vice President of Marketing Alison Copeland said in a statement.

CBS 6 has not heard back from Oracle.

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