Thousands of Columbus Water & Power customers were mistakenly overcharged because of an auto-pay glitch when the city changed its billing cycle from quarterly to monthly.
What began as a pilot project last June led all remaining accounts to the cycle change starting in July. However, 6,000 customers were impacted by an auto-pay system issue that came with the change, and others have complained about larger bills than expected.
The larger auto-pay problem is being addressed, according to Columbus Water & Power, but customers with specific questions related to bill accuracy should contact customer service.
Auto-pay issue results in double billing
A "one-time issue" with the division's auto-pay system that
happened during the billing transition caused some customers to receive a new bill before their previous bill was due, Columbus Water & Power spokesperson George Zonders said in an email.
This hiccup temporarily affected the scheduled auto-payment date and resulted in some customers receiving delinquency notices, Zonders said. The issue is "being addressed," with all associated notices canceled and fees waived.
"While we have asked affected customers to cancel their auto-payment if it has not already been processed and make a manual payment, they are not required to do so," Zonders said. "If those customers choose not to make a manual payment, the next bill should reflect accurate usage and process normally."
Transition bill leads to confusion
Customers receiving larger bills than normal could be because of multiple factors, Zonders said.
The most common occurrence Columbus Power & Water is hearing about right now, Zonders said, is that the transition bill between quarterly and monthly billing may be for more than one month – sometimes two months or more.
This discrepancy can be determined by checking "Usage History" and "Number of Days" under the "Meter Reading Details" section of a bill.
If someone has been charged for more than one month, their next bill should properly reflect monthly usage, Zonders said.
Another reason customers may be seeing larger bills is because of the city's installation of new meters.
"Throughout our system during the meter upgrade, customers previously on old meters are now seeing more accurate usage reflected by the new meters," Zonders said. "Actually the issue in most cases was not the meters themselves, but the exterior remotes which slowed down over time – the new meters do not have external remotes so this will no longer be an issue."
Customers can verify the accuracy of their bills and meter readings by contacting Columbus Power & Water's customer service office at 614-645-8276 or utilityleadrep@columbus.gov.
Switch to monthly billing possible due to new meter system
Customers have been asking for this switch for many years because budgeting for a quarterly bill while dealing with other monthly bills, like electricity or internet, can get tricky, Zonders previously told The Dispatch.
The change is possible thanks to the division's Enhanced Meter Project, which involves updating old water meter infrastructure in the city. One of the advantages of the enhanced meters is that usage can be tracked electronically.
"Its main purpose is to update our old, obsolete meters for which replacement parts are no longer available, but a significant additional benefit to the new system is the ability to implement monthly billing," Columbus Water & Power said in a news release.
CWP states on its website that it has about 300,000 water meters in Columbus and contracting communities. In total, Columbus Power & Water had 287,233 customer accounts at the end of 2025, Zonders said.
Dispatch Reporter Nora Igelnik can be reached at nigelnik@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Water customers report problems after change to monthly billing
