Chelan PUD Working With New Billing Company After Cyber-Attack

Chelan PUD is working with a new vendor to issue billing statements after a cyber-attack last month shut down the company it had been using. 

Customer bills have been delayed since then with the amount due building daily for customers scheduled to receive statements during the downtime. 

Chelan PUD spokesperson Rachel Hansen says the first batch of bills with the new vendor was successfully sent out to customers Thursday. 

"That should hit mailboxes early next week, so around March 11th or so," said Hansen. 

The PUD has also revealed the name of the hacked vendor. 

Change Healthcare is best known for insurance billing. The same cyber-attack that shut down the PUD's billing also affected pharmacies around the country, including several here in the Wenatchee area.     

The PUD contracted with Change Healthcare to send about 2,000 billing statements a day, electronically and in the mail.  

Hansen said the information the PUD uploaded to Change Healthcare included customer names, mailing addresses, services taken, the amount owed, due date, and Chelan PUD account numbers. 

She said Chelan PUD’s network was not compromised and Change Healthcare did not have access to payment method information or other sensitive, personally identifiable information. 

“They did not have any access to any payment information or other sensitive personal information, only just what you see on your bill,” Hansen said. 

The PUD will be sending out a letter to all customers explaining the recent event and the details of receiving future billing statements. A website has also been set up in both Spanish and English to keep customers informed of billing updates.