PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Some Portsmouth Public Utilities customers are seeing unexpected spikes in their water bills — and the city says a system switch is to blame.
Homeowner Shelby Brock is one of many residents surprised by unusually high charges in recent weeks. Brock, who typically pays $50 to $70 per month, was shocked to return from a work trip and find she owed more than double that.
“It was stating that my water bill was due back in June when I paid it,” said Brock. “Then I come back, and it’s saying I now owe for June and July," Brock said.
Brock ended up paying $136.36 to get caught up.
According to a letter from the city, Portsmouth transitioned to a new utility billing system on June 23. During the rollout, some online payments were misrouted and never properly posted to customers’ accounts.
Brock said the old payment system worked fine and was more user-friendly.
“I was struggling to even pay my bill. The new system wouldn’t let me access it for almost a week,” Brock said.
City officials say no late fees will be charged during the transition and each account is under review. They also said customers do not need to call or wait in line and they are "personally reviewing each account to ensure that no one is charged incorrectly."
Brock hopes the city improves communication moving forward.
“If it wasn’t for Facebook, I wouldn’t have known the system changed at all,” Brock said.
We did reach out to the city manager, Steven Carter, for comment, but he was unavailable.
