Nenshi says water bill changes, review coming after Calgarians report 'extraordinarily large' charges
CBC News | Posted: August 30, 2017 9:53 PM | Last Updated: August 31, 2017
Customers who fix leaks in reasonable time after being contacted by Enmax will not have to pay 'the big bill'
Mayor Naheed Nenshi said there will be changes and an independent review of Enmax's water meters and billing system after a small group of Calgarians received huge bills over the past few months.
Nenshi said Enmax and the city performed its own review after some Calgarians came forward with water bills into the thousands of dollars. There will also be an independent review "to confirm ... accuracy for the public," Nenshi said.
He said most times the culprit is a "stuck toilet," but it is usually Enmax's policy to contact customers that have a huge spike in water consumption.
"If Enmax contacts you and you fix the leak in a reasonable amount of time, you wont have to pay the bill," said Nenshi, adding customers will then be billed based on their average monthly usage.
"If the leak is more difficult to detect … then we will work with the customer to try and figure out what the problem is. And again, once we fix the problem, you don't have to pay the big bill."
Currently no appeal process
Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart had planned to ask the the city and Enmax to develop "appeal mechanisms" for citizens to dispute large bills.
She said some of the bills reach as high as $3,000 even though affected residents say there had been little or no change in their monthly consumption. It's not unheard of for people to occasionally receive higher than average bills that are "way out of line, but not to this extent," Colley-Urquhart said.
"In these hard economic times, some people are receiving bills that equal two or three of their mortgage payments," Colley-Urquhart said. "This couldn't happen probably at a worse time."
Nenshi says he will talk to her to see if those issues are addressed. If not, they will bring the matter to council on Sept. 11.
The city said financial relief will be extended to some customers already affected by the large bills, adding Enmax will be contacting the small group of customers directly.
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