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LADWP General Manager Nichols defends billing practices

File photo: LADWP chief Ron Nichols and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villraigosa.
File photo: LADWP chief Ron Nichols and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villraigosa.
(
Molly Peterson/KPCC
)

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LADWP General Manager Nichols defends billing practices
LADWP General Manager Nichols defends billing practices

The general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is defending his agency’s billing practices.

General Manager Ron Nichols said in a statement that the DWP sends out more than 99 percent of its bills on time. He calls it an “extraordinarily favorable” on-time record, given that the agency processes 50,000 bills a day.

Nichols responded to a TV news report that some business and residential customers face thousands of dollars in payments because the DWP failed to bill them in a timely fashion.

City Controller Wendy Greuel said she’d investigate the issue. “We want to make sure they are appropriately billing – not overbilling or underbilling. So we are going to look into that with Councilmember Zine and the Department of Water and Power to see if this is a small problem or big problem in the Department of Water and Power.”

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Councilman Dennis Zine has introduced a City Council motion that asks DWP officials to explain billing delays.

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