The Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is a wholly owned enterprise of the City of Orangeburg. The DPU sells retail electricity, natural gas, water and wastewater services to the greater Orangeburg area. The DPU has a staff of approximately 180 full-time employees. The Administrative Division is the service company of the DPU and has a staff of 65 full-time employees, consisting of Accounting, Billing, Customer Service, Field Service, Geographic Information Services, Information Technology Services, Human Resources and Fleet Maintenance areas. Collectively, these areas serve both the internal operating Divisions of the DPU as well as the 55,000 +/- citizens and rate payers. Our employee’s strive to provide the highest level of customer service each day.

The DPU has nearly 24,000 multi-utility accounts. The DPU’s customer service and billing staff handles nearly 10,000 calls per month and nearly 6,000 monthly in person visits. The customer service and billing area are the first staff members who customers encounter when dealing with a customer service or billing issue and go through great effort to ensure customers’ needs are met with care and compassion.

The DPU’s accounting staff handle processing of nearly 12,000 invoices per year, issuing more than 700 payments per month and over 3,000 purchase orders per year. They also handle the processing of over 250,000 customer payments per year and nearly $100,000,000 of receipts per year. The accounting staff helps to ensure that projects and work orders are tracked and accounted for properly and that business is conducted efficiently and effectively for operational purposes.

The DPU Field Service area ensures that the DPU’s customer utility meters are read accurately on a monthly basis. The Field Service area also helps ensure inspections of the metering facilities are provided adequate access and surrounding areas maintained as provided by the DPU’s General Terms and Conditions. Utility locating and routing of routine service work are also handled by the Field Service group with great care to ensure utility stakeholder needs are met.

The DPU’s Information Technology staff ensures that the DPU is on the leading edge of digital and electronic capabilities. The staff ensures that the operations of the DPU run efficiently and securely on a daily basis while constantly enhancing the offerings to the operational divisions of the Department and customers.

The DPU’s Fleet Maintenance area handles the procurement as well as the repairs and maintenance of nearly 110 on-road vehicles and numerous other pieces of equipment which are vital to the day to day operations of the DPU. The staff maintains the DPU’s assets to the highest standards and the staff is versed in nearly all forms of mechanical upkeep. From rebuilding hydraulic parts to diesel motors, there are no tasks to large or complex for the Maintenance Facility staff to tackle.