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East Point officials: migration to new utility system sent erroneous shutoff emails to about 590 customers
Summary
City staff told the City Council that a recent migration to a new cloud-based utility management system caused erroneous shutoff emails to 590 customer accounts in one billing cycle; staff said notices were posted online and emailed to affected customers and that most other system issues are internal.
City officials told the East Point City Council on Sept. 2 that a migration to a new cloud-based utility management system resulted in erroneous shutoff emails being sent to customers in one billing cycle.
The customer-care manager, identified in the meeting as Miss Adams, said the city posted a letter on the customer care web page on Aug. 28 and emailed customers in “Cycle 1” on Sept. 2. “The emails went out today to each of those customers in cycle 1,” Adams said. She told council members the mailings that prompted the most concern were emails, not mailed paper notices.
Council members pressed staff for details about scope and outreach. City staff said 590 accounts were in Cycle 1 and that the erroneous shutoff notices affected only customers with email addresses on file. Adams said the city did not mail the erroneous shutoff letters to Cycle 1 customers. “We did not mail out those erroneous letters to the customers. Only the email customers were impacted,” she said.
Council member Butler and others asked whether non-email customers had been reached; staff responded that the vendor (referred to in the meeting as BSNA or BSNA/BS&A) and city teams had identified the impacted email recipients and that other billing cycles were not affected. “The other cycles were not impacted,” Adams said.
Staff told council the migration uncovered a set of internal-processing issues — delayed or timed-out reports, and changes to daily workflows — but said those problems were not currently affecting customers’ bills. “In terms of that, that’s what I’m really speaking about, internal processes,” Adams said. City staff said they are working with the vendor and opening support tickets when issues are found.
Council members asked for clearer public communications. Council member Shropshire noted the online letter was a standalone PDF without a header or explanatory context; she suggested the city add a brief explanation to the web posting so residents understand why the letter appears on the site. Several council members recommended an outbound notice on utility statements and emails to inform customers ahead of further migrations, and to instruct customers to contact customer service rather than assume a notice means an imminent cutoff.
Council members also raised a separate implementation question: whether vendor staff were on site during go-live. Adams said two vendor representatives were present during implementation and that post-implementation technical support remains available.
Council members asked staff to follow up on at least one constituent report of a mailed notice and to confirm no other cycles were impacted. The council did not take a formal vote on the item; staff said they would provide follow-up information and consider additional proactive messaging in upcoming bills and emails.
