Richmond, VA — The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is providing customers with an update regarding billing and payment processing issues that have occurred following the launch of its new customer service systems on May 26, 2026.

The new systems, implemented after a multi-year planning, development and implementation effort, successfully achieved several major milestones, including the accurate conversion of customer account data and the successful deployment of core system functionality. Since launch, however, DPU has identified issues involving third-party billing and payment processing vendors that have affected some customer accounts.

As soon as these issues were identified, DPU began working closely with its vendors to investigate and resolve them as quickly as possible. While many issues have already been addressed, DPU continues to work diligently to ensure all remaining concerns are resolved and customers receive accurate account information.

To help customers better understand the issues and find answers to common questions, DPU has published a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) resource that provides detailed information about payment posting delays, late fees, account balances and other related topics.

Customers can view the Payment Processing FAQs here.

DPU appreciates the patience and understanding of its customers as these issues are addressed and remains committed to delivering reliable, responsive customer service.

About The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities
The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities provides natural gas, water, wastewater, stormwater and streetlight services to more than 500,000 customers in the Richmond metropolitan area. DPU is committed to safety, reliability and innovation in delivering essential utility services that support the city’s residents, businesses and environment.

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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, [email protected] 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.

Recent actions highlight commitment to higher quality, more responsive, and more transparent City operations.  

The City of Richmond recently announced a series of achievements that reflect the Administration’s commitment to good governance, operational excellence, and continuous quality improvement. Recent progress across public safety, housing, labor relations, and government accountability highlights how internal teams, guided by Mayor Danny Avula’s leadership and direction, are driving stronger, more responsive, and more transparent City operations.    

Accountability and Performance. This week, the Office of the City Auditor (OCA) noted the Administration’s progress, underscoring the City’s commitment to accountability and continuous improvement. OCA closed or removed 38 recommendations, including 34 in key operational areas such as bad debt reconciliation, purchase use, warehousing, and duplicate payment controls. Across the fiscal year, 10 departments closed 65 recommendations, reflecting meaningful performance improvements across the government. 

Customer Support During DPU System Updates.  Following the launch of DPU’s upgraded customer information systems, some customers experienced delays and disruptions that were promptly addressed and resolved. The department is continuing to monitor system performance closely and make the necessary post‑implementation adjustments to realize optimal efficiency. 

To ensure residents have clear avenues to share feedback and receive assistance, DPU Senior Director Scott Morris and Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II will host two customer engagement events inviting community members to hear directly from them, speak directly with customer service staff, receive support, and learn more about financial assistance resources.  Sessions will be held Tuesday, June 23, from 12–2 p.m. at City Hall, and Wednesday, June 24, from 5–7 p.m. at the Southside Community Services Center.  

Strengthening the Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA) – City of Richmond Partnership. With a focus on strengthening public safety through effective governance, the Administration is partnering with Council to reform the partnership between the city’s Department of Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response (DECPR) and the Richmond Ambulance Authority.  The unanimously approved ordinance will ensure that medically trained RAA staff handle medical only calls from the outset, improving accuracy and speeding up care for residents. 

Collective Bargaining. The City is advancing an amendment to its collective bargaining agreement that clarifies negotiation processes and reinforces productive labor management collaboration. By promoting consistency and transparency in workforce policies, Richmond continues to demonstrate its commitment to fair, reliable, and accountable governance. 

Commerce Road. Good governance guides the City’s approach to housing. New legislation for the Commerce Road corridor will enable a significant expansion of affordable housing units, strengthening long-term housing options for families and supporting equitable growth across Richmond. 

Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The City completed work to ensure that all funds designated for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund were correctly calculated and aligned with the budget process, supporting continued investment in housing access and stability for residents.   

“Whether it’s our historic audit results, improving emergency services, moving collective bargaining efforts forward, or continued investment in transformative public housing, the administration is making significant improvements for Richmonders,” said Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II. 

Good morning, friends! 

This is a super exciting day in our city.
It is a joy to welcome people from far and wide. I know throughout the course of this weekend, we will have many visitors from the region and from beyond. We also have these crews from Norfolk, from Baltimore, and all the way from the Netherlands. Let's welcome our guests and thank them for coming here for these celebrations. 
 

The James River, in so many ways, is the lifeblood of our city today, but it has been for hundreds and hundreds of years. It has played an incredibly important role in the history of our Commonwealth and the history of our entire country. This whole year, as we acknowledge the 250th anniversary of our country, that means a lot of things here in Richmond. It is part celebration.
It is part wrestling with the complexity of our past. It is part inspiration for how we continue to form a more perfect union for the next 250 years. I have lived here in this great city of Richmond for 26 years, and a huge part of what has fueled my love for this place is the way that Richmond does not shy away from its past.
Our city is steeped in history. I think the greatness of our city, our beauty, our diversity, and the richness of Richmond are a direct result of the honest reckoning that we have done and been doing for decades here.  

SailFest is yet another example of how we grapple with the fullness of that history and ultimately become a stronger city because of it. As we stand here on the banks of the James River, we celebrate the fact that we would not be here had it not been for the arrival of ships like these so many years ago. We also recognize that the history of ships sailing up the James River here to Richmond is really complicated.  

When Captain Christopher Newport sailed here from Jamestown in 1607, he planted a cross on the hill, and with that began years of persecution of the land's original inhabitants, the Powhatan. Centuries before the Europeans arrived on these shores, remember that dugout canoes carried families and food and tools and traded goods between villages and tribes. We must remember that when these ships first sailed up the James more than 400 years ago, this land was not a wilderness waiting to be settled. It was already a vibrant network of relationships, of economic activity, and of community. Just like today, our river connected people. The Powhatan welcomed these new European settlers in their most vulnerable moment and taught them how to survive in this new environment. Ultimately, as greed gave way to war and violence, within a generation, most of the tribes between the York and the James River were decimated. Too many of the land’s first inhabitants in the place that we now call Richmond were lost to history.  

In the years to follow, the James River would carry thousands of enslaved Africans into the city.
Right across the river here, thousands of kidnapped men, women, and children arrived at Ancarrow’s landing, and walked along the riverbank, eventually making their way to Shockoe Bottom, where they were confined, tortured, and sold into a life of slavery. In the 19th century, Richmond became one of the largest slave hubs in the United States. So many enslaved Africans came through Richmond, that even today, it is believed that one in four Black Americans can trace their roots back to our city.  

Throughout all of this time, the river and the ships that traveled along it were also a source of commercial development for Richmond, and of freedom. George Washington oversaw the building of the Kanawha Canal along the James River, which was the first operating canal system in the US. That canal connected Richmond and other Eastern cities to the Western United States, and it expanded travel and commerce from our city and for the nation as a whole. In the years to follow, Black and Irish laborers would endure dangerous conditions to expand that canal and grow our city's economy by helping transport flour and tobacco and coal and people, both free and enslaved, up the treacherous falls of the James and ultimately around the world. 
 

If you look at our City's flag, you will see a faceless boatman, a boatman that represents the unsung heroes -- the boatman of the James -- that transported goods along the river, and were such an important part of our city's early economy. It's believed that, at one point, up to 98% of these boatmen were men of color, and that the river was actually a source of freedom for these men and their families, both figuratively and literally. Not only did the river provide an avenue for enslaved boatmen to travel without the harsh supervision of their masters, but they were also known to help transport slaves to freedom by picking up freedom seekers along their journey, and taking them to ships here in Richmond that would ultimately carry them north.
I think these Black boatmen were the epitome of our country's founding ideals of liberty and justice for all. With great bravery and wisdom, they turned the same river that brought their ancestors into a life of slavery into a pathway to freedom. I'm so proud that they are represented at the center of Richmond's flag, which is a representation of their legacy, but also of our aspiration to live up to it as a city. 
 

Now, while the tall ships that we see today aren't the same vessels that ushered in the difficult parts of Richmond's conflicted past, they do allow us to reflect on that past, and to celebrate the progress that we've made, but also to acknowledge the work that we have yet to do. We have been working to live up to that promise of freedom and equality for 250 years, but we are still working on it. The work to create a truly democratic nation rooted in equality remains unfinished. 

I welcome you all again to SailFest, because this is an incredible once in a generation opportunity to tour these beautiful ships, to learn from live performances and reenactments and exhibits that will allow us to engage with and reflect on our complex history over the last 250 years. This event has come together with the work of many, many hands. I just want to say thank you to Sail Virginia, to the crews of these fantastic ships, the Oosterschelde, the Pride of Baltimore, and the Virginia.  

I want to say a special thank you to Jamie and your team at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. 
We are so grateful for the work that you all do for our city and for the entire state, telling the fullness of Virginia's story. I want to offer a massive thank you to the United States Army. It took so much coordination and effort to get these floating docks out here so that these ships could dock. I want to thank the Army certainly for their involvement in this event, but more importantly to your sacrifice and service to our great nation. Lastly, I want to thank my colleagues here in the city of Richmond, who, along with Sail Virginia and the History Museum, put in so many hours of planning and physical labor, and set up the infrastructure that's needed to bring the tall ships here and to make this event a success.  

I cannot wait for thousands and thousands of Richmonders to get to experience this over the next few days, and then to see how that work will seed the future of Richmond, to make us a stronger and more resilient and more beautiful city over the next 250 years. Thanks so much, everybody.