COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — About 11,000 Columbus water customers were overcharged by $1,000 or more due to a billing error on their January statements.
The error, which a Department of Public Utilities spokesperson said has since been corrected, erroneously showed customers owed $1,045 for the Clean River fee instead of $14.50. The spokesperson said the charge was incorrect on bills sent Jan. 1-9 and affected about 4% of the city’s water customers.
The Clean River fee goes toward addressing sewer overflows and backups into basements by fixing aging infrastructure across the city, including in Linden, Clintonville and the Hilltop.
The department is in the process of notifying affected customers and sending corrected bills. Those affected were sent the following statement:
“We have identified an error which affected your Clean River charges during the most recent billing cycle, causing a discrepancy in the charges. This is the corrected statement, and please disregard the prior one. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Please contact our Customer Service Center at 614-645-8276 between the hours of 7am-6pm Monday through Friday with any questions or concerns, or you can email UtilityLeadRep@columbus.gov. Thank you.”
The spokesperson encouraged anyone with an unusually high water bill to contact its customer service center.