CommentsEASTSIDER-While trying to take care of my mother-in-law during her last months, I discovered a seriously dysfunctional side to the Department of Water and Power.
Don’t misunderstand. I like the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power a lot. As an engineering and construction business, they are outstanding. When it comes to their billing and collection systems, however, they make Southern California Edison look soft and fuzzy.
So, here’s the story. Back in 2016, my mother-in-law entered hospice care at the ripe old age of 90. Her biggest asset was her home, so she set up a living trust to take care of her assets when the inevitable would occur. That happened in May.
I set up a Trust bank account to handle matters, and on July I went to the DWP, armed with the trust documents, proof of death, etc. Obtaining a final bill, I paid some $265 and change with a Living Trust check. This was still 2016.
Imagine my surprise when I received our August 2018 bill from DWP for our house in Glassell Park. For the first time ever, our 2-month bill was over one thousand smackeroos! Holy Moly! Looking at the details of the bill, I saw an entry called “Adjustments (see details below.)”
Buried on page three was a set of four adjustments all dated 7/7/18, with no explanation other than “Debt Balance Transfer From Account xxxxxxxxxxx.” The total of these transactions was $398.19. While it was not directly threatened, the implication was that we should pay this out of nowhere set of charges or have the DWP cut off service at our home!
Looking back at everything the DWP had sent me, I found a one-page letter from July 6, which stated “The closing bill in the amount of $398.19 for the account xxxxxxxxxx for services ending 09/23/2016 has been transferred to your current account. The amount due will be included on the next bill for your active account xxxxxxxxxx.”
Just to make sure I got the point, the document went on to say: “To ensure that your current service is not subject to disconnection, we offer various payment options to make it easier for you to pay your bill.”
Good god, I thought, these people are serious, and I don’t have a clue what or who Account xxxxxxxxxx actually was. You know, the one from over two years ago. So, I read the fine print in the delightful billing statement the DWP sends us every two months.
So not to waste space here on quotes, I’ll summarize the fine print under “If You Question Your LADWP Charges.” First you contact a representative online or in person. If you disagree with that person, you can go to a “supervisor.” If you are still not happy, you have “a right to a management-level review.” Whatever that means. I kid you not.
Since the only other interaction I had with the DWP was for my mother-in-law’s Trust and knowing that the second I used the word “Trust” everything would go to heck, I fired off a letter in August, sending it to the PO Box that was listed in the DWP Statement. Actually, I thought it was a pretty spiffy letter, going through all the legal hoopla, proof of death, establishment of the Trust with me as Trustee, even noting that the DWP had signed off on the close of escrow when we sold my mother-in-law’s home.
I received no answer. Nada, zip, off to the ozone. So, after a month or so, I went back to a physical DWP Office, my favorite one in Lincoln Heights. Great people. There I discovered that there was no record of my letter having been received by anyone. So, I had them make copies and they agreed that they would send the information electronically to whoever it was that is in charge.
They also offered to extend my deadline for payment by two months so that we would be with guaranteed services at our home while the DWP management DWP’d. Long story short, I went back to the Lincoln Heights office a couple of times, each time verifying that management had received the documents, but no action had been taken. Surprise.
Finally, the great day arrived, and I received a letter from the Customer Initiated Request Team, Account Services Unit. Dated December 6. From August. Telling me, of course, to go pound sand and pay up. The basis for their position was:
You advised the representative that you were the trustee for Mary Bagasao who was now deceased, at that time you would have been advised that an account with the Department of Water and Power cannot be in the name of a Trust.”
The letter went on to assert that (1) I really paid to close the account, and (2) “agreed to sign for the service effective June 28.”
Of course, no such thing happened, and I was not informed about any of this. I paid DWP with a check from the Trust which they seemed delighted to cash and left.
So here I stand.
Choices?
I am not writing this post to do a poor, poor, pitiful me. Quite the opposite. As the beneficiary of a great and free public education system including graduate work at UC Berkeley (thank you Governor Pat Brown), I am lucky enough to have the skills to sort out reality from horse puckey, and to exhaust the Byzantine appeals process of the DWP. And have enough money to pay the implied blackmail.
I also have no doubt that at the end of the day, DWP is capable of disconnecting our home in Glassell Park over their interpretation of their power. This is not, however, how a public utility is supposed to operate. Normally, no utility unilaterally charges your account by adding in another account which is not in your name. See the SCE (Southern California Edison) website FAQ for an example of industry norms.
In the private utility industry, there is a serious demarcation between bill payment and collections functions. Actually, there are even a couple of collection agencies specializing in utilities. IC System offers a full service and will even serve as a smaller agency’s receivables department, while Empire Collection specializes in the more traditional collections function for utilities.
The Takeaway
In my instance, I’m not certain if the DWP’s actions were legal, although something like $300 isn’t worth a lawsuit. I was not in fact appraised of any of the stuff they say I “would have been” advised about. I did not accept to personally pay for the service. I signed nothing in writing whatsoever which would indicate that such was the case. I paid by a check on the Living Trust, which they seemed delighted to cash. And I could go on.
So, what happens (and has happened) to ratepayers who do not have economic resources, and/or an educational background that will allow them to take on an opaque and relentless bureaucracy which will grind them into the dirt?
I can only imagine. Someone in a position of regulatory oversight needs to investigate whether the DWP billing people are acting like a utility or like some kind of out of control collections agency.
As for me, I’m going to send them a check on the Living Trust account. I’m betting they will cash it in a heartbeat.
(Tony Butka is an Eastside community activist, who has served on a neighborhood council, has a background in government and is a contributor to CityWatch.) Photo: Getty Images. Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.