MAYOR PAYS LEGAL COSTS

‘Every penny’ of $284,000 tab

The city is preparing a “more fair” policy for Enmax customers alarmed at abruptly skyrocketing water bills, Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Tuesday.

While he didn’t give details on what that policy would entail, Nenshi said media reports about Enmax water and wastewater bills that have ballooned by thousands of dollars have spurred his office to action, with an announcement coming in the next few days.

“That work is being done now and I hope that we will be able to shift the policy around to be more fair to people,” he said following an all-mayoralty candidate forum Monday night.

“I’ve certainly asked … not just Enmax but also the City of Calgary, our Water Services unit, on how often this happens, what we can do about it, how we let people know proactively what’s going on and what we do in order to help people with crazy bills.”

Numerous Calgarians have come forward to Postmedia claiming their water and wastewater bills have shot from about $100 a month to thousands of dollars, while insisting there’s been no increase in consumption or waste.

Some alarmed at the steep charges have called for an investigation, while Coun. Ward Sutherland said possible technical glitches — most likely among newly installed water meters — be probed before those bills are paid.

Nenshi stopped short of calling for that.

“I don’t know if we need to do a formal investigation and spend a tonne of money on that,” he said.

Enmax has yet to publicly attribute the bills to meter problems but has reduced some of those hefty bills.

Water charges for 11 units at Parkview Condominiums, at 11th Avenue and 17th Street S.W., jumped by six times their normal rate in the past year, said Ron Hampton, who does the accounting for the complex.

He estimates it’s cost residents $6,600 in extra charges over the past year.

But until concrete action is taken to reimburse those customers and ensure it doesn’t happen again, Hampton said Nenshi’s words ring hollow.

“It’s not satisfactory to me — I don’t detect any hint of urgency or concern,” said Hampton. “I’m going to push on with this — I know better than to wait for politicians or bureaucrats.”

He said his own water bills have recently jumped by an unusual amount and has him closely monitoring his water use every day.