Nenshi says water bill changes, review coming after Calgarians report 'extraordinarily large' charges

Mayor Naheed Nenshisaid there will be changes and an independent review of Enmax's water meters and billing system after a small group ofCalgariansreceived hugebillsover the past few months.

NenshisaidEnmaxand the city performed its own reviewafter someCalgarianscame forward with water billsinto the thousands of dollars. There will also be an independentreview"to confirm ...accuracyfor the public,"Nenshisaid.

He said most times the culprit is a "stuck toilet," but it is usuallyEnmax'spolicy tocontact customers that have a huge spike in water consumption.

"IfEnmaxcontacts you and you fix the leakin a reasonable amount of time, you wont have to pay the bill," saidNenshi, adding customers will then be billed based ontheiraverage monthly usage.

• Read more about the coming changes in an open letter from the city

"If the leak is more difficult to detect then we will work with the customer to try and figure out what the problem is. And again, once we fix the problem, you don't have to pay the big bill."

Currently no appeal process

Coun. DianeColley-Urquharthad planned to ask the the city andEnmaxto develop "appeal mechanisms" for citizens to dispute large bills.

Shesaid some of the bills reach as high as $3,000 even thoughaffected residents say there hadbeen little or no change in their monthly consumption. It's not unheard of for people to occasionally receive higher than average bills that are "way out of line, but not to this extent,"Colley-Urquhartsaid.

"In these hard economic times, some people are receiving bills that equal two or three of their mortgage payments," Colley-Urquhart said. "This couldn't happen probably at a worse time."

Nenshisays he will talk to her to see if those issues are addressed. If not, they will bringthe mattertocouncilon Sept. 11.

The city said financial relief will be extended to some customers already affected by the large bills, adding Enmax will be contacting the small group of customers directly.

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