City Of Tulsa’s New Utility System Launch Causing Concerns From Customers

The city of Tulsa rolled out its new utility system Monday, but along with the changes came some concerns for some customers.

Richard Goode reached out to News On 6 because he accidentally accessed other people's accounts. Now, the city said it has new security measures in place to stop it from happening again.

The City of Tulsa’s utility bill changes add several new features and are aimed at making the bills easier to see and understand.  

Goode said he tried to log on this morning to set up his new account.

"I received the notice they were changing over to a new process," Goode said.

Goode tried to log in with some numbers he was given and ended up accidentally logging into someone else's account, where he could see personal information.

"A whole bunch of stuff I should not even be looking at," Goode said.

Goode immediately called customer service to tell them, then city councilors and even the mayor’s office. But he said he was able to access other accounts over the next several hours and was worried that the website had not been shut down.

“The issue wasn’t resolved," he said.

However, the city said it quickly removed access and notified all the people affected.

Utility systems manager Troy Stafford said there was a lot of initial confusion Monday, but said overall the new system is working well, and he asks for patience from customers.

“We know with any new systems there will be hiccups," said Stafford. "We're excited about all the new functionality we can offer the citizens.”

The city said it has put additional security measures in place.

“This morning, a citizen gained unauthorized access through account manipulation to three citizen's online account information. The city immediately removed access and conducted a thorough review of all online account activity. Additional authentication security measures are in place and staff is reaching out to the three individuals affected,” the city said in a statement.

For more information, visit the City of Tulsa utilities website here.