A year-old glitch in a computer formula used to determine how much some Denver Water customers pay has prompted the agency to issue $1.5 million in rebates ranging from $1 to more than $1,000.
In postcards mailed to more than 35,000 single-family customers, Denver Water said it will credit the overpayments in bills mailed after April 30.
“We’re embarrassed that we caught it after the fact,” Denver Water finance director David LaFrance said Thursday. “But it’s only fair to correct our mistakes and do the right thing by returning the money.”
The average rebate will be $44, LaFrance said. The overbilling began in January 2007 and was caught last month as old formulas were being replaced.
Only residential customers with “read and bill” service are affected — those areas served by a suburban water district, such as Southgate, but whose water and usage bills come directly from Denver Water. Most are south and southwest of Denver.
No Denver residents were affected by the formula problem, which mistakenly calculated bills using data reserved for duplex home customers, LaFrance said.
