MLGW says delayed bills getting back to ‘normal’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — MLGW’s president says numbers are getting “back to normal” after thousands of customers said their bills were delayed due to meter issues.

Last year, around 40,000 MLGW customers received delayed utility bills. However, MLGW President Doug McGowen said that number is now down significantly.

“We have that number down to around 5,000 now and (the) normal level is between 4,000 and 5,000 throughout our history,” McGowen said. “We have about 435,000 customers so that number is within normal in those limits and we can process those within a few weeks’ time.”

He added that the company expects to reduce that number even more as more registers on meters are fixed.

McGowen said fixing the root problem of the issue was a huge undertaking.

“This was happening all over the globe and these registers were in high demand, so we had enough to fix our problems here. We pushed very hard to do that,” McGowan said. “We had 30 contracted crews that we brought in to help us replace those in addition to the MLGW crews. So, it was a very specific and deliberate undertaking and we’re not going to stop until we’ve looked at and touched every single meter in our system.”

For those who have a delayed bill and the bill is released, McGowen said he acknowledges you can get sticker shock after not receiving a bill for several months.

He asks customers to call MLGW, explain the issue and say they need assistance to make that large of a payment.

“So, our team will set you up with a range of assistance programs,” McGowan said. “If the bill was delayed because of us, your bill may show a late fee and may show a disconnect but you will not be charged a late fee and you will not be disconnected until you have a chance to talk to us.”

A payment plan can be worked out and if needed, you can be connected with other utility assistance programs.

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