Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel

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Contact: Anthony Rodriguez
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Aqua Ohio fined $132,000 for failure to resolve billing issues

COLUMBUS, Ohio – August 24, 2009 – State regulators fined Aqua Ohio $132,000 last week and will audit the company to insure billing problems affecting thousands of customers in the company’s eight-county service area are fixed. The company also must spend $25,000 to help low-income water consumers.

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) pursued the case against Aqua Ohio after consumers repeatedly reported they were not receiving their water bills for months at a time and when they did the cumulative bill was high. They also said the company was not taking actual meter readings for many months, a violation of service standards. Some consumers said they didn’t get a bill for more than six months. Also, the company assessed late fees even though customers had not received bills. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio determined the billing problems had been ongoing since May 2007 to at least February 2009.

“Consumers are entitled to receive accurate and timely bills on a regular basis,” said Consumers’ Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander. “The impact of not receiving a water bill or having bills estimated for a long period of time prevents customers from having information to manage their usage and can have a tremendous negative impact.”

The company agreed with the OCC and the PUCO staff in April and October 2008 that there were unresolved billing problems because of a new billing system installed in May 2007. The company further agreed to contribute up to $25,000 toward payment assistance, to be evenly distributed among three of Aqua Ohio’s service territories – Lake Erie, Stark and Struthers – to help low-income water customers. But the problems continued. The PUCO assessed a $1,000 per day fine from Oct. 15, 2008 to Feb. 4 for failure to fix the problems. The total fine is $132,000.

On Aug. 19, 2009, the PUCO approved the October 2008 agreement between the company, OCC and PUCO staff.

The case against Aqua Ohio remains open while the PUCO staff conducts an audit of the company to make sure the billing problems are corrected. The staff has four months to conclude its study. Depending on the audit’s findings, Aqua Ohio could be subject to more penalties.

“The decision by the PUCO to accept our agreement with Aqua Ohio and hold it accountable for its actions was the right one,” Migden-Ostrander said. “We also are encouraged the PUCO has required an investigation over the next four months to verify that all of the billing and backlog issues are resolved.”

This is the first time Aqua Ohio has been fined by the PUCO for violating rules. The $132,000 has to be paid to the state within 90 days of the commission’s order.

About the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel

The Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC), the residential utility consumer advocate, represents the interests of 4.5 million households in proceedings before state and federal regulators and in the courts. The state agency also educates consumers about electric, natural gas, telephone and water issues and resolves complaints from individuals. To receive utility information, brochures, schedule a presentation or file a utility complaint, residential consumers may call 1-877-PICKOCC (1-877-742-5622) toll free in Ohio or visit the OCC Web site at www.pickocc.org.