LOS ANGELES _ The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power owes its customers at least $67.5 million in refunds and credits after the utility overbilled them, an independent monitor has concluded.
The latest estimate represents an approximately $25 million increase from the amount reported during a court hearing in December.
Since 2013, the DWP has been plagued by a faulty computer billing system that overcharged tens of thousands of customers while failing to bill others at all.
Officials said this week that after a year of working with the monitor and revising the class-action settlement agreement, customers can expect to get refunds as early as the summer of 2017.
Under the terms of the settlement, DWP will refund customers 100 percent of the amount they are owed, officials said. Customers can also file claims for reimbursement if they disagree with the refund amount.
Ratepayers will also have the right to make claims for "consequential damages" stemming from the billing debacle, such as if a check bounced or if a customer unnecessarily hired a plumber, said Tom Merriman, an attorney with Landskroner Grieco Merriman, the law firm representing the ratepayers.
The $67.5 million estimate is "a floor," Merriman said. "We expect the total value of the settlement to go up."
Both the plaintiffs' attorneys and DWP officials said they hope the court will grant preliminary approval to the revised settlement at a hearing Friday.
If the court gives the settlement the green light, customers affected by the overbilling will receive letters detailing how much money they are owed within 90 business days, Merriman said.
The flawed customer billing system was designed and implemented by PricewaterhouseCoopers and launched in 2013, according to DWP.
In a statement, the nation's largest public utility said it has partnered with the city and continues to aggressively "pursue full repayment by PwC of ... damages" through separate litigation.
