Provo Residents Say They’re Dealing With Skyrocketing Utility Bills

PROVO, Utah – Some residents in Provo are reeling over utility bills that have doubled or tripled from this time last year, but city officials said a new billing system they implemented and a hot season are to blame for the jumps.

“We’re doing everything we can to take care of it as fast as we can, believe me,” said Karen Larsen, director of Provo311 Customer Service. “The error that we had, moving forward, is not occurring, but we do have some residual clean up.”

One homeowner told KSL-TV his account was hit with a $17,000 bill — twice. While his issue was an obvious mistake that has been resolved by the city, other families are still seeing massive increases in rates.

Homeowner Robin Roberts said jumped hundreds of dollars despite little change in his usage.

“They said usage is about the same, but my bill has gone up nearly $300,” Robin Roberts said. “They said it’s probably a billing problem. It all started when they started the new system.”

City officials said they include several things in their statements, and many families that are facing higher statements due to a hot, dry season, a wastewater rate increase and a lag in billing.

They also said they are working around the clock and most of the issues they initially saw are not still happening. But they said it will take time to deal with earlier problems.

Robins said he wants answers, and credits to his accounts.

“I will be expected a refund when they get this figured out,” he said. “No question.”