Richmond, VA — The City of Richmond is launching “People’s Day: We’re Here to Help,” in partnership with the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer. The new series is designed to provide residents with direct, in person access to City leadership, customer service teams, and resource support across multiple departments.

Each People’s Day will focus on a key community priority. Future sessions will include senior needs, youth services and tax payments.

The first People’s Day focuses primarily on utility services and will offer residents one on one assistance, the opportunity to speak directly with the city’s executive leadership including the CAO, DCAOs, DPU leadership and other senior leaders, while providing space to raise other customer service concerns across the City, including payment support service.

People’s Day: We’re Here to Help 
Tuesday, June 23 
11 a.m. – 1 p.m. 
City Hall

Wednesday, June 24 
5 p.m. – 7 p.m. 
Southside Community Services Center

Residents are welcome to bring any concern or service question, not just utility related issues. Registration is encouraged to help with staffing preparation but is not required. Residents can register here.

Why People’s Day Is Launching Now 
The City of Richmond is currently implementing several major technology upgrades across departments to improve service long term. While these improvements are important, nothing replaces in person customer service. People’s Day exists to ensure residents always have a direct line to help when they need it.

These improvements include DPU’s recent transition to an upgraded customer information system, designed to improve accuracy, reliability and access for residents.

During the DPU system transition, some customers experienced delays in payment posting. The issue was quickly identified and the City has taken several steps to support customers during the update, including:

• Temporarily suspending utility disconnections 
• Pausing flow restrictor installations 
• Automatically removing related late fees 
• Ensuring confirmed payments are applied without requiring customers to resubmit

“At DPU, our priority is our customers,” said Scott Morris, Senior Director of the Department of Public Utilities. “As we identify technical glitches with our new systems, our teams work around the clock to fix them. We appreciate residents’ patience, and we remain committed to transparency, responsiveness and doing right by our community.”

“City Hall and all City service sites are, and always will be, the people’s house. People’s Day reflects the City’s commitment to the Mayor’s directive to create a thriving city hall that is accessible and resident centered,” said Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II. “This is the first of many opportunities for us to meet people where they are and provide the responsive service our community deserves. It’s also good operational practice: hearing directly from residents helps us strengthen our systems, improve coordination and continuously deliver better results.”

Looking Ahead  
The City will continue to host People’s Day events throughout the year, each tailored to a different community need. Details on future dates and focus areas will be shared in advance of each event. 

Residents with questions about their utility account may contact DPU Customer Service at 804 646 4646, dpucustserv@rva.gov or visit rva.gov/public-utilities.

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Disconnections and flow restrictor installations suspended to protect customers during resolution

Richmond, VA — The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is aware that some recent utility payments are not currently reflected in customer account balances due to a payment processing issue. DPU is actively working with this payment processor to identify and resolve any remaining payment posting delays as quickly as possible.

To ensure customers are not negatively impacted while this issue is being resolved, DPU is temporarily suspending utility service disconnections and flow restrictor installations. Additionally, any late fees resulting from delayed payment postings will be removed.

Customers who have already submitted a payment and received confirmation that it was processed should not submit a duplicate payment. Those payments will be reflected in next month’s bill.

DPU appreciates customers’ patience and understanding as work continues to resolve the issue. Additional updates will be provided as information becomes available.

Customers with questions about their utility account may contact DPU Customer Service at 804-646-4646 or visit rva.gov/public-utilities.

Richmond, VA — The City of Richmond anticipates beginning the first phase of accumulated debris removal at the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge this week. Funded by the Department of Public Utilities as part of a Supplemental Environmental Project with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, this phase will remove approximately 17 tons of debris, representing about 2% of the estimated total accumulation.

When work begins, equipment will be mobilized and staged on the east end of Belle Isle at Northeast Point Beach. The beach and the path leading to it will be temporarily closed during operations. Access to the Potterfield Bridge will remain open.

The first phase of debris removal is expected to be completed in less than two weeks. Work will include removing debris from the log jam area, transporting it to the staging site and hauling it to a local commercial wood waste recycling facility, where it will be recycled into mulch.

As a pilot project, this initial phase will provide valuable insight as the City evaluates long-term solutions for managing debris accumulation in the area. The Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities will closely monitor the work as the contractor refines the removal process and the City evaluates options for expanding future debris removal efforts.

“This initial debris removal effort is an important step toward improving the long-term health, safety and accessibility of the James River corridor around the Potterfield Bridge,” said Chris Frelke, Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. “We are grateful for the support of the Department of Public Utilities, which allows us to test cost-effective methods for removing debris and evaluate approaches for future cleanup efforts.”

The Department of Public Utilities is aware of a system error related to last week’s systems upgrade that has impacted payments for some accounts. Some utility payments have been received but not applied to customer accounts. DPU is working with our payment processor to correct this error and apply those payments that have not fully processed. 

Customers may call the DPU Call Center if they have been impacted but may experience a longer than usual wait time. Resolution is expected to occur within one to two business days, no action is required by customers as the payments will be processed as soon as the system error is corrected. DPU appreciates everyone’s patience while we work to resolve this issue in a timely manner. 

Richmond, VA — The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has successfully completed the implementation of two major back-office systems designed to improve customer service, operational efficiency and service delivery across the department.

As part of Project Synergy, DPU officially launched Oracle Customer Cloud Service (CCS) and Oracle Field Service (OFS), replacing outdated legacy systems that have supported utility operations for decades. The transition marks a major milestone in DPU’s ongoing modernization efforts.

The implementation also lays the groundwork for DPU Connect, DPU’s new customer portal anticipated to launch this fall. DPU Connect will provide customers with enhanced self-service capabilities and a more convenient way to manage their utility accounts, further improving the overall customer experience.

In conjunction with the system launch, DPU also implemented a new Customer Service and Billing Regulation that aligns with the department’s modernization efforts. The new regulation establishes clear, uniform rules for how DPU manages customer accounts and preserves DPU’s existing payment arrangement structure, allowing eligible customers to enter into payment plans with as little as 10% down and flexible repayment terms.

“These new systems and new regulation position DPU to better serve our customers through transparent and efficient operations,” said Scott Morris, Director of the Department of Public Utilities. “This was an enormous undertaking involving employees across the entire organization as well as many business partners, and I want to thank our teams for their hard work, flexibility and commitment throughout the transition process.”

The new systems and updated regulation will support several long-term improvements, including: 

• Clear understanding of billing and customer service processes 

• Improved customer account management  

• Faster and more efficient field service operations  

• Enhanced tracking and visibility of service requests  

• Streamlined workflows and reduced manual processes  

• Continued flexible payment arrangement options for eligible customers

As part of the transition, customers now have new account numbers, which are 10 digits and will be reflected on bills beginning in June. Customer service representatives can continue assisting customers using either their old or new account number during the transition period, and payments referencing old account numbers will continue to be processed. Customers who use online banking, automatic payments or third-party bill payment services should also work with their financial institutions and other bill payment vendors to update their account information to help avoid future payment delays or issues.

DPU has committed significant resources to ensure the new systems were designed and developed with the customer in mind. There was an abundance of testing, training, dress rehearsals and validations to get the system ready. The last bill validation exercise produced a near perfect success rate of 99.7%.

While the go-live process was successful, DPU continues to monitor system performance closely and work through standard post-implementation adjustments, including dedicated staff on hand to address and fix high level issues. Customers may experience occasional delays as employees continue adapting to the new systems, workflows and updated procedures.

“This modernization effort supports Mayor Danny Avula’s vision of Richmond as a city where all people and places thrive,” Morris said. “By investing in modern infrastructure, technology and customer-focused improvements, we are strengthening DPU’s ability to provide safe, reliable and responsive utility services while enhancing the customer experience.”

DPU thanks customers for their patience and understanding throughout the transition.

For more information about DPU services and customer payment options, visit rva.gov/public-utilities