A billing mistake by the Bangor Water District will result in overcharged customers receiving a credit or refund.
An April 2023 informal investigation by the Maine Public Utilities Commission found the Bangor Water District in January billed customers at a higher rate that wasn’t yet in effect when they used the water.
A Bangor Water customer reporting they were overcharged spurred the investigation. The customer was billed $61.20 when they should have paid $55.74, leading to an overpayment of $5.46.
Bangor Water will issue customers billing credits for the amount they were overcharged, which will go toward any outstanding balance they may have. Customers will receive checks, however, if their refund exceeds their outstanding balance. The district will also send a notice to customers outlining the billing error.
This week, the Maine Office of the Public Advocate and PUC asked the water district to submit a report outlining the upcoming credits for review. The water district must then issue the credits within 30 days after the report is reviewed and approved.
The district will not know exactly how many customers will be reimbursed, or how much customers will receive, until it prepares the report, according to Holli Silva, Bangor Water District finance manager.
Created in 1957, the Bangor Water District is an independent municipal department that supplies water to more than 11,000 accounts across seven communities — Bangor, Eddington, Hampden, Hermon, Orrington and portions of Clifton and Veazie. The district also provides water to the Hampden Water District for distribution.
In January 2024, the PUC ordered the Bangor Water District to refund customers for the amount they were overcharged, but Bangor Water argued in February that issuing refunds on a customer-by-customer basis would be “administratively burdensome.”
Issuing all of its 11,485 customers a refund will cost the water district roughly $78,693, according to a report from the PUC.
If staff spent 5 minutes manually issuing refunds to each customer, Bangor Water District estimated the task would take a total of 1,033.67 hours, or about 43 days, according to the district.
The order to compensate customers for Bangor Water’s mistake comes on the heels of the utility proposing to increase water rates another 16 percent. The proposed rate bump would increase the average homeowner’s monthly water bill by $4.55 and give the district an additional $1,314,139 in revenue, according to the district.
The Bangor Water District argued the additional funding is needed to cover major projects, compensate for rising costs of materials and labor due fueled by inflation and maintain the water district’s workforce by offering competitive wages, according to the district.
