The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority today acknowledged that an error in a meter reading schedule resulted in a slight delay in the reading of meters for the billing cycle that began on Jan. 16. As a result, during the cycle, which ended on Feb. 12, approximately 12,140 customers received bills for a period of 36 days.
“While WAPA endeavors to be in compliance with all laws governing its operations, including those which dictate specific limits on billing periods, this was an instance where a meter reader’s work schedule error created a delay in the reading of meters in certain cycles. Some meters were read up to six days late, which subsequently extended the billing period for those customers,” said Lawrence J. Kupfer, executive director/CEO.
Kupfer said once the discrepancy was brought to the Authority’s attention, internal meetings were held to better understand the circumstances that contributed to the delay and how such occurrences could be avoided in the future.
“In closely reviewing the situation, we have also determined that affected bills in the February cycle will show service periods in the current cycle as low as 24 days. The following month’s bills should reflect the normal service period,” said Kupfer.
WAPA apologizes to those customers who received a bill covering a billing period more than 30 days, Kupfer added. “As always, we encourage customers who have a concern about any aspect of their bill to contact our Customer Service Office at either 774-3552 / 773-2250, select option 5.”
