Richmond DPU outlines consent order deadlines, capital projects and customer billing changes

Director Scott Morris updated the Organizational Development Standing Committee on the water treatment plant consent order and Department of Public Utilities (DPU) enhancements, saying the consent order is effective June 28, 2025 and imposes a civil charge of $6,817.

The consent order “acknowledges all the corrective actions we've taken to date, which is about a 155 actions,” Morris said. He told the committee the order’s Appendix A lists requirements and that DPU must provide recurring progress reports, equipment and testing schedules, and a list of standard operating procedures submitted to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH).

The consent order and associated reporting schedule matter because they create mandatory deadlines for DPU. Morris said several deliverables are due within 120 days of the effective date, including a schedule for periodic testing and emergency backup systems; a capital improvement plan; an updated organizational chart; a water asset-management plan or equivalent; the approved budget and the most recent rate-model output; and a list of active water-related contracts. Morris said DPU has the capital improvement plan, the organizational chart and the budget in hand and is compiling the asset-management material to submit to the VDH Richmond field office.

Morris said DPU has completed the bulk of the required Standard Operating Procedures and has submitted them to VDH for review. “We've completed all those standard operating procedures. We've sent those over for a VDH to review,” he said, and added the department will begin training once the agency’s review is complete.

On completion progress, Morris told the committee there are “about 230 total recommendations. We've completed about 82% of those to date,” and that weekly updates are produced to track progress.

Morris also described operational and customer-facing changes under way. DPU removed the convenience fee for all credit-card payments effective June 30, 2025, and raised the threshold for when a payment triggers the fee from $500 to $1,000. He said the change was intended to reduce double charges and make paying easier for customers.

On billing exceptions, Morris said the department reduced a backlog that once approached 10,000 exceptions (June 2024–May 2025) to roughly 2,875 exceptions for June of the current year by assigning exceptions automatically to an exceptions team and instituting a weekly processing report. He described a daily generation rate of about 500 new exceptions and monthly processing volumes between 11,000 and 13,000 items, handled by a team of about 16 staff.

Morris gave details about meter replacement and reading upgrades. He said DPU is replacing roughly 41,000 meters identified as near the end of expected life and has completed about 9,000 replacements to date. He said the system contains roughly 70,000 meters in total. The department has upgraded handheld meter-reading devices to automatic mobile reads (so field staff no longer must manually type reads), installed GPS on meter-reading vehicles to ensure route adherence, and plans incremental annual replacements of about 7% of meters after the current 41,000-meter project. He said DPU expects to launch an AMR (automated meter reading) customer portal early in 2026 so customers can view daily usage.

On regional coordination, Morris said DPU directors typically convene quarterly and that, in emergencies, directors initiate calls with partners to offer or request assistance and, where needed, share parts from their respective warehouses. He described those emergency calls as set up “case by case” rather than governed by a fixed protocol.

Council members asked about the 120-day deadlines and reporting. Morris said the 120 days is counted from the consent order effective date (June 28). He said the city will post highlights of the required submissions and deadlines on the city website rather than publishing the full 230-item list. Council Member Bridal asked whether committee members should expect a status update listing items as “complete” or “in progress”; Morris said the website updates and the weekly internal tracking reports would capture incremental progress and that some items will remain pending until capital projects finish.

Council members praised recent improvements to procedures, staffing and training at the treatment plant and said they expected continued public and regional engagement as DPU moves through the consent-order schedule.

Ending

Morris closed by noting that some outstanding recommendations are tied to capital projects already under construction and that the department will submit a final report to VDH after all items are completed. He invited committee questions and said more updates would be provided as the department advances through the consent-order deadlines.