Richmond, VA — The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is mailing postcards to all utility customers with important information about the City’s new utility billing system, including reminders about new 10-digit account numbers. Previously, the announcement of new 10-digit account numbers was provided in bill inserts, both hard copies, and online bills. Additionally, DPU continues providing updates and resolution on remaining billing issues.

Customers should begin receiving postcards during the week of July 13. 


Since the launch of the new billing system on May 26, 2026, DPU has continued working with its software, bill payment, and bill processing vendors to resolve remaining issues affecting online and paper billing summaries and payment processing. Customer account information, receipt of payments, and billing data remain accurate. The remaining issues affect how information is displayed on some bills (“Bill Summaries” in upper left-hand corner of bills), how certain payments are processed, and MyHQ account updates. All associated late fees have been removed from any impacted customer’s accounts.

DPU and their software, bill payment, and bill processing vendors have a target resolution date for all currently known issues of Friday, July 31, 2026. In the meantime, some customers may receive bills with correct charges and payments applied but not reflected correctly in the bill summary section of the bill.

The information below explains the most common issues and whether any customer action is required.

Standard Bills

Current issue: Adjustments (i.e. late fees removed, credits applied) may not appear on the bill summary even though they have been applied to the customer's account.


Customer action: None.


DPU action: Bill adjustments will be itemized at the bottom of the bill, with the total reflected in the bill summary. Target resolution: July 13.


Budget Billing (Equal Monthly Payment Plan)

Current issue: The bill summary may incorrectly display the total current charges rather than only the customer's monthly budget billing amount.


Customer action: Pay only the monthly budget billing amount for gas, plus any current charges for other utility services.


DPU action: Bill summaries are being updated to correctly display only the monthly budget billing amount. Target resolution: July 13.


Combined Billing Customers

Current issue: A small number of commercial customers receiving combined bills are experiencing bill display issues related to payment processing.


Customer action: No action is required unless contacted by DPU.


DPU action: DPU is working directly with affected customers while updates are completed.


Automatic Payments

Customers enrolled in automatic payments should review DPU's updated guidance explaining how the new billing system transition may affect automatic payment enrollment and other payment methods. Automatic Payments functionality will be restored on July 10, 2026, so if a payment was not applied last month on the account, then customers should expect a higher-than-normal draft with no late fees applied.


MyHQ and EZ-PAY Portals

DPU is aware that the MyHQ portal is defaulting to old account numbers in the account drop-down menu. DPU is working with the bill payment and processing vendor to default to the new account number in the drop-down menu. Customers are encouraged to ensure they are selecting the new 10-digit account number in the drop-down menu. Longer-term, in the event that the vendor is unable to make this change to permanently default the drop-down menu to the new account number, DPU will archive the old account and provide bills associated with that account number upon request. In the meantime, customers should focus on the information under the new 10-digit account number.


DPU is also aware that customers who discontinued water or gas services were unable to make final payments on the MyHQ portal. Those customers are encouraged to use EZ-PAY, or log into the MyHQ portal on Thursday, July 9, 2026. 


Customer Reminders

As part of the new billing system:

• All customers have been assigned new 10-digit account numbers.
• Any customer using Bill Pay through a financial institution should update their account number with that institution to ensure correct processing.
• Customers who pay through MyHQ do not need to update their account number.
• A new online account lookup tool is available.
• Customers using automatic payments should review the updated Frequently Asked Questions and payment guidance.
  

Customers with questions or situations not addressed above can visit rva.gov/public-utilities/accountupdate or contact DPU Customer Care at 804-646-4646.


DPU appreciates customers' patience as these final system updates are completed.