MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The MLGW system is finally operating as normal, but now customers have to worry about the financial impact after massive water leaks across the city.
They say they plan to work with customers through payment plans and a “leak exception” that should bring bills closer to normal, but it’s still unclear how exactly this will affect the customer’s wallet.
After losing tens of millions of gallons of water in the last couple of weeks, MLGW admits some customers could see higher-than-normal bills.
But the utility provider is implementing a one-time water leak exception for the next month, an action they say should bring fees closer to normal.
“Hold off on calling about the water portion of your bill if you’ve had high consumption because of this,” MLGW President and CEO JT Young said. “We’re going to implement what we believe will be an automated process.”
Gale Jones Carson, vice president of community and external affairs, said those adjustments are going to be shown on their bills automatically. “So they don’t have to worry about that,” she said.
MLGW says they apply the exception once a year, but when pressed for exactly how relief might work, they admitted the process is still a work in progress.
“Certainly, all the things that we’re doing that we’ve already talked about, we believe they’ll help,” Young said. “This week has been a week of trying to get the system back in order.”
It’s a bit concerning, waiting for a potential monster water bill after weeks of weather-related challenges.
MLGW says customers should study their bills and stay patient as adjustments are made. And for those struggling with bill payments, there is forgiveness ahead.
“We are still in the phase of not disconnecting any customer services, electric gas or water, til further notice,” Carson said.
We reached out to multiple customers that have dealt with water leaks and outages, but they have not gotten their bills yet.
