As mentioned previously, my home and office are served the the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD). Unlike the neighboring Orange County Sanitation District, the IRWD hasn’t elected to spiritualize its’ sewage. But the IRWD has committed its own sin: Late payments on electricity bills to the tune of $22,427, according to a story in the Orange County Register.
The IRWD says that the payments were late so that the bills, from Southern California Edison could be checked to ensure that SCE didn’t overcharge the IRWD. The IRWD has now changed its policy so that if the checking of the bills will cause them to be paid after the due date, the bills will be timely paid and a credit (if appropriate) will then be asked for.
Yes, the double-checking of the bills has found errors (of more than $160,000). But shouldn’t this procedure have been implemented after the first late payment? Definitely this shouldn’t have had to wait for an audit; according to the Register story, that was the cause of the change of procedure.