Richmond city leaders outline new DPU Billing error fixes after admitting mistakes in system rollout

RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond city leaders acknowledged Monday they made mistakes in the rollout of a new utility billing system that has impacted thousands of customers since its launch in May.

The city launched Project Synergy, a new utility billing platform, earlier this year. Since then, CBS 6 viewers have reported payments not posting, problems with new account numbers, trouble accessing the online portal, and long wait times to reach customer service.

"We mess up, we fess up. We talk about it, we identify, and we make that very clear to our public," Odie Donald, Richmond's chief administrative officer, said.

Richmond DPU misses its own deadline to fix billing system problems

Mayor Danny Avula acknowledged the city fell short in preparing for the customer impact of the transition.

"We did not do a good enough job in anticipating, you know, what the customer experience would be," Avula said.

DPU's own numbers show call volume spiked sharply after the launch. In May, the call center handled 13,686 calls. In June, that number jumped to nearly 40,000. In July, it remained at about 39,000. However, DPU leaders say wait times that were once more than an hour are now generally around 15 to 25 minutes.

Scott Morris, Senior Director of Public Utilities, said the core data in the system remained intact but acknowledged the technology transition created problems, including confusion around new account numbers and payment processing.

"We're still seeing today that some customers are calling and asking about old account numbers, new account numbers," Morris said.

"That has been a challenge in and of itself because there's some confusion on the old bill, the new bill, and then also when you submit for payments," Morris said.

In August, CBS 6 reporter Kelsey Jones sat down with Mayor Avula, who said the city had doubled its call center staff to help with issues and added more workers to address the backlog. He also shared that his goal was for customers to have an accurate bill within two months. Kelsey asked again Monday whether the city would meet that goal, Avula said the underlying data has been sound throughout the process.

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

"The core information in the system is accurate, has always been accurate. It has been the translation of that to a bill that has not, and so we're at a point where the translation of the bill has, there will still invariably be questions that people raise," Avula said.

Over the next 30 days, the city aims to take the following steps to address ongoing issues:

• Add more call center staff
• Extend customer service hours
• Hold more in-person customer service events
• Strengthen staff training
• Take a more proactive approach to resolving billing issues

Donald urged customers to remain patient as the city works through the problems.

"Stick with us. We're committed to getting it right," Donald said.

Customers who continue to experience billing issues are encouraged to call the DPU customer service line at 804-646-4646.

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