Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Riverside Public Utilities's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Riverside Public Utilities

  3901 Orange St Riverside, CA 92501-3610

• 

  Riverside Public Utilities

  3025 Madison St Riverside, CA 92504-4480

• 

  Riverside Public Utilities

  3750 University Ave 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501-3366

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  Riverside Public Utilities

  3900 Main St Riverside, CA 92522-0001

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/21/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Riverside public utilities has misleading amounts on what’s due each month. I’m paperless so I log in to see my bill total. Before paying each month the amount is higher than what I actually owe. Once I pay it reflects a lower amount then what I paid . As to get me to submit a higher payment than necessary. This month it stated I owed 155.68 after being double charged 210.68 it now states my bill was actually 133.68 . This happens every month . I over pay. But this month they actually double charged me with no resolve . This company was recently sued for similar actions.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/06/2023

  
  January 5, 2023 
  ****** ******** ******************** Better Business Bureau **** ** **** **** ******* ** ***** ******** 
  Dear ****** ********: 
  The City of Riverside Public Utilities received your correspondence dated December 21, 2022 and December 26, 2022 on January 3, 2023, resulting from a claim from ***** ******. The correspondence requests refund of a duplicate payment. 
  On December 13, 2022, customer initiated an account online payment to be paid on December 20, 2022. 
  On December 16, 2022, customer initiated an account online payment to be paid on December 20, 2022. On December 21, 2022, customer requested a refund of the duplicate payment made. On December 27, 2022, a refund was processed successfully to the customer account. 
  We appreciate your inquiry on behalf of our customer. Riverside Public Utilities takes great pride in providing excellent customer service and we have followed up with the resident to address concerns. 
  If you have any questions, please contact me at *********************** or ###-###-####. 
  Sincerely, 
  
  **** ****** Customer Service Manager 
  Riverside Public Utilities | RiversidePublicUtilities.com 
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/22/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The Public utilities business was sued in 2021 for electric rates being illegally risen. 2022 many city residents started seeing their bills doubled after the utility company lowered the amount per KWH. They have doubled and tripled the actual amount being used. We had our meter replacement thinking it was a faulty meter but it went from a high of $200 a month on the hottest part of summer with A/C running all day, to an increase of $380 a month without A/C for a low income small apartment. We are also being charged a "reliability fee" which we cannot opt out of on top of taxes. It is $70 for a fixed rate of sewer and misc. fees. This building receives city covenants and grants through fed govt. We tested our meter and having everything off for an entire day ran 30KWH with just an energy efficient fridge plugged in. The KWH is not accurate and we are being scammed. I am not the only household who has seen a 200% increase. We have lived here for 3 years and nothing has changed in our usage, if anything we have been mindful and kept appliances unplugged and it continues to increase every month. Our rent is $850 a month and utility bill is nearly $400 a month for a low income grant funded property. Either their meters are extremely faulty, or they are scamming customers because there is no way based on past usage. This increase came all at once, not over time.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/02/2022

  
  September 1, 2022 
  ****** ******** ******************** ****** ******** ****** **** ** **** **** ******* ** *****  RE: ID 17753791 
  Dear ****** ********* 
  The City of Riverside Public Utilities received your letter dated August 22, 2022 on August 30, 2022, resulting from a claim from ******* ******. The claim is Riverside Public Utilities is not accurately measuring kilowatts used for this residence, based on past usage at the location, due to either extremely faulty meters or scamming customers. The request included a request for billing adjustment refund. 
  Customer Service staff spoke with our customers on May 24, 2022 regarding an inquiry about high bill concerns. Staff advised that an electric meter test would be completed. The meter test was completed on May 25, 2022, which found no meter malfunction. On May 31, 2022 Customer Service explained the results of the meter test. On June 2, 2022, an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) electric meter was installed which allows customers to monitor their use for energy management. 
  On August 31, 2022, a water meter technician performed a water meter test with a household member present and advised that the meter tested properly within ranges. The household member was satisfied with the test results. 
  The results of the investigation indicate that the billings were calculated accurately, and that proper notification was provided. No City Electric or Water Rules were found to be misapplied. Customer Service staff have left messages to discuss the concern with our customer however as of the date of this letter, our customer has not returned the call. 
  Thank you for your inquiry on behalf of our customer. Riverside Public Utilities takes great pride in providing excellent customer service and we have followed up with the resident to address her concern. 
  If you have any questions, please contact me at ********************** or ###-###-####. 
  Sincerely, 
  
  ****** ***** Assistant General Manager 
  Riverside Public Utilities | RiversidePublicUtilities.com 
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/09/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  This response does not reflect the discussion I had with the two different technicians. They've stated our usage is higher than it's ever been and does not reflect our past usage. They did express concerns of how much this small 800 ft² apartment is using compared to other homes around the corner that have less usage.

  
  

  Also, I did my own test by leaving for an entire day which was recommended to do by the first technician who changed our meters and it still read over 29 kwh for the day which is absurd for just an energy efficient fridge running. 

  
  

  They stated I was satisfied with their results however I did not ever say I accepted their results. I did not receive any test results in writing nor did I sign anything that stated I agreed to their results. He said 1500 ft² homes are running less than our 800 ft² apartment.

  
  

  I have tried to reach out to RPU but have had problems reaching anybody so I contacted my local councilman's office to reach out in our behalf regarding this matter.

  
  

  Their response is incorrect. They stated the technician that came out on August 31st, 2022 was a water meter technician who tested our "water meter". Are we paying electricity on a water meter?

  
  

  I'm confused by this because we don't pay water living in this federally subsidized building. This property receives federal grants through the city of Riverside's HOME grant which the city receives from HUD. If the city is receiving federal grants using our personal information each year, they should be giving discounts for these types of properties. 

  
  

  The gas company (SoCal Gas) gives a 20% discount for low-income households. Our rate has not changed for gas usage and is affordable. I use my gas oven more than I use electricity. My lights are all energy efficient and my appliances are all energy efficient. Our utility bills were affordable when I was using more electricity last summer. This past few months is not affordable. 

  
  

  Something isn't right about what they are saying we are using when it has never been this much kWh. 

  
  

  Either these buildings are no longer affordable, or RPU is guesstimating our usage and not providing an accurate reading each month. It seems as if our actual usage is being doubled. Leaving for an entire day it should have been a maximum of 10-15kwh for the day and it read 29kwh. That's double of what it should have been. 

  
  

  These buildings should not be receiving any federal grants if they cannot maintain affordability. Our utility bill is one third of our income and other federally subsidized buildings have utilities included for affordability. We pay 30% of our income through the Housing Authority for this apartment and our utility bill is 2x higher than our rent. The housing authority has a utility allowance that is factored into our rent amount and H.U.D standard is 2x less than what our bills are. I will be contacting HUD about this issue and let them know RPU is charging these rates for this building that receives grants each year. 

  
  

  Many residents in this neighborhood are also complaining about higher than normal kWh in the past few months. Our neighbors living in much bigger houses around the corner say their bills are half of what the residents living in these low income apartments are being charged. Even when they illegally raised rates per kWh on customers (which they got sued for) our bill was not this high. This is something that has changed in the last 3 months after they were sued.

  
  

  We have lived here for 3 years, all the same appliances. Nothing has changed in our actual usage. If anything we've conserved because of our bills being so high and it continues to go up every month when we are using less than when we first complained to the utility company. It makes no sense, our bill should be lower, not higher. We shouldn't be paying 40% of our income on utilities alone. Something is seriously wrong and this is not resolved nor will I accept this conclusion.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/21/2022

  
  RE: ID ******** 
  Dear ****** ********* 
  The City of Riverside Public Utilities received your letter dated September 12, 2022 on September 20, 2022, with additional correspondence from ******* ******. The correspondence claims that Riverside Public Utilities measurement of electrical kilowatts usage is not accurate based on past usage at the location and that a lower discounted rate should apply. 
  On May 25, 2022 an electric meter test was completed and found no meter malfunction. On August 31, 2022, a technician performed an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) electrical meter test with a household member present and found the meter to be accurate. The results of the investigation indicate that the billings were calculated accurately, and that proper notification was provided. No City Electric Rules were found to be misapplied. 
  Multiple attempts by Customer Service staff have been made to discuss concerns with our customer, and our customer has not returned our phone calls. Voice messages have been left with our customer including on August 30th, August 31st, September 1st, and September 20th. 
  Riverside Public Utilities has multiple utility assistance programs to help eligible low-income residents which can be found at *****************************************************e-programs/about, or by contacting ***** ********, or by visiting one of our locations. A Utility Assistance program informational flyer and program applications have been mailed as a courtesy to our customer. 
  A review of the account usage has determined that the account has higher energy usage from June through October since 2020. A variety of factors impact energy usage and heat loads including but not limited to setting air conditioning to lower temperatures, having less efficient equipment, the building/housing exposure to the sun, the number of household members, and the hours of energy utilization. 
  We appreciate your inquiry on behalf of our customer. Riverside Public Utilities takes great pride in providing excellent customer service and we have followed up with the resident to address concerns. 
  Riverside Public Utilities | RiversidePublicUtilities.com 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/23/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  This is not a satisfactory resolution. At this point I will be getting an attorney involved.