Statement by LADWP General Manager David H. Wright Regarding Amended Settlement Of Class Action Billing Claims

We have made tremendous progress and last week jointly filed a  revised settlement agreement, which was the product of a mediation conducted by the highly respected United States District Judge Dickran M. Tevrizian (Ret.).  The settlement provides for the return of every penny owed to our customers as a result of the flawed customer billing system designed and implemented by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) and launched in 2013.

Under the terms of the settlement, LADWP will refund customers 100 percent of the amount verified by the court-appointed independent monitor to be owed to impacted customers, while also allowing affected customers to file claims for reimbursement if they disagree with the amount of refund verified by the monitor.  Timing of those refunds should occur in summer 2017 and will follow a specific calendar established by the Court.  LADWP has also agreed to implement the customer service performance metrics set forth in the settlement to ensure that progress continues to be made in better serving its customers.  These metrics are in the process of being adopted.

The City and LADWP will continue to pursue full repayment by PwC of the damages LADWP and its customers sustained due to PwC having designed and implemented the flawed billing system.  We are aggressively pursuing our claims through separate litigation filed by the City and LADWP against PwC, which was paid over $70 million to design and implement the new customer billing system.

We are hopeful the Court will grant preliminary approval to the revised settlement this Friday, so that we can take the next steps toward refunding our customers the money they are rightfully owed.”

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