HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Due to some concerns over the possibility of a double-billing cycle in the month of August, Huntsville Utilities and the City of Madison provided statements to address these concerns.
Huntsville Utilities told News 19 that it was aware of the issue of some customers noticing that they had a shorter billing cycle in the month of August. When asked to comment on this, the company provided the following statement to News 19:
“We are aware of this issue and want to stress that late fees will not be applied during this transition and no customers will be disconnected for non-payment until further notice . . . meaning for at least the next 6 to 8 weeks.
We also want to stress that the situation with the shorter billing period is not a “new normal”. Some customers billing cycles changed with the implementation of the new system. In the transition, we had to read the affected customers’ meters one last time before switching from the old system to the new system. This is a one-time occurrence. We realize this is confusing and inconvenient, thus the policy of no late fees and no disconnects.
At issue, also, are the fees for availability and garbage collection. For our customers that received a bill for the short cycle, there will be a pro-rated credit for applicable availability fees on their bill which will be based on their usage.
The garbage collection, however, is out of our control and in the hands of those entities for which we are the billing agent: Huntsville, Madison County, and the City of Madison. We want to be very clear that Huntsville Utilities does not control those fees. Any decision to credit, reduce, or refund any of those fees sits with the applicable entities.”
Huntsville Utilities
The Madison County Government also took to social media to explain why some customers may have had a larger bill following the new HU billing system.
“As many of you know, Huntsville Utilities recently changed their billing system. Typically, Madison County residents are charged a fee on their utility bill for household trash service each month. Madison County Waste Control rates are $13.50 for one cart and an additional $5.00 for two carts per month. The bulk trash fee is $3.00 per month.
Due to HSV Utilities’ new billing system, some customers are seeing extra fees for this same service for the month of August. Madison County has not changed our fees.
At present, Huntsville Utilities has notified us they are “leaving the fee in place because the affected customers won’t have another bill due until September.”
Rest assured, Madison County will not be collecting/receiving any fees over the current established rates listed above. We apologize for any confusion this may cause our customers.”
Madison County, Alabama-Government
Huntsville Utilities launched its new app, HSVUTIL, on Monday, August 11. The company created a brand new software system intended to be convenient for customers, including easier payment options, online outage reporting and updated outage information.
Below is a list of detailed benefits of the new app and web portal:
- Billing & Payments: No more waiting for your bill to arrive in the mail, access your bill at anytime from anywhere. Save time with easy payment options to avoid late fees and service interruptions.
- Alerts & Notifications: Stay informed on important account events via email or text messages. Receive the information you need to make the right decisions about your account.
- Paperless Billing: What if you could save some time and a tree at the same time? Activate SmartHub paperless billing, an eco-friendly way to instantly access your bill.
- Usage Monitoring: Worrying about usage or surprising bill amounts can be stressful. With access to this information, you can be in control and make decisions that can help reduce your bill.
The utility company’s main office, drive-thru payment center, customer contact center and self-service kiosks were closed so software installations could be made on the day the app launched.
In order to ensure a successful login into the app, HU said you will need to find the new account number that was emailed to you through the email registered with your utilities account. If you cannot find that, you can contact the department by phone or email starting Tuesday.
The new HSVUTIL app is available on the Apple App Store or on Google Play Store.
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