Got Water Billing Issues? DWP to Stay Open on Saturdays to Resolve Them

Four Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customer service centers will open on Saturdays for the next eight weeks, starting with this weekend, so customers can resolve billing problems.

A major overhaul of DWP's billing and customer information system in September led to tens of thousands of inaccurate or late bills being issued to customers. The utility has also reported a revenue shortfall after many of the bills issued in recent months went unpaid.

The Saturday hours will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Crenshaw, Van Nuys, Watts and West Los Angeles centers.

Interim Executive Director of Customer Service Randy Howard said the utility is "tackling our billing problems head-on" by offering more hours for customers to speak to customer service representatives at the four regional centers.

Staff at the customer service centers will be able to receive payments, process service order requests, answer questions about billing and resolve billing issues.

The customer service centers hosting Saturday hours are:

-- Crenshaw Customer Service Center, 4030 Crenshaw Blvd.;

-- Van Nuys Customer Service Center, 6550 Van Nuys Blvd.;

-- Watts Customer Service Center, 1686 E. 103rd St.; and

-- West Los Angeles Customer Service Center, 1394 S. Sepulveda Blvd.

DWP customers can also get questions answered by visiting www.ladwp.com/ContactUs or calling 1-800-DIAL-DWP (1-800-342-5397).

Callers to the phone line can opt for the utility to call them back once a customer service representatives becomes available.

--City News Service