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WTF Is Wrong With My Bill, DWP?
Photo by neonspecs via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Customers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power are more than a little lit up about some recent billing issues. It seems the DWP has been "issuing late bills to customers and charging exorbitant fees," reports ABC Local.
L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine and many of his constituents have received bills several months late with fees totaling in the thousands of dollars. Zine is also highlighting another problem. He said customers with new meters that were never connected correctly are likely to receive several years of late bills.
At a news conference on Tuesday the councilman introduced a motion directing the DWP to investigate the allegations. On Monday, a city council committee took beginning steps to set up a watchdog agency for the DWP.
Voters in March approved a plan to use a "quarter of 1 percent" of the DWP's budget to oversee a possible watchdog organization, however it is unclear and/or undecided who would operate and organize that effort.
99 percent of customers are billed on time, according to the DWP, and the utility has said a new format for billing will be rolled out in May making it easier to identify "a delayed bill," notes ABC Local.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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