Utility companies in the region have a unified message for delinquent customers who are in danger of having their service turned off beginning Thursday: Call now.
The state Public Utility Commission’s ban on service shut-offs during the pandemic ends Thursday, and utility companies are urging eligible customers who are behind on their bills to call and sign up for assistance programs or set up a payment plan.
“You have to respond. There are a variety of different ways to assist customers to avoid termination of service,” said David Johnson of Duquesne Light Co. in Pittsburgh, which serves about 600,000 customers.
A March 18 PUC order lifting the moratorium on service shut-offs outlines various payment plans, including one for households with income at 300% of the federal poverty rate. That amounts to $38,640 for a single person and $79,500 for a family of four, according to federal guidelines.
“They (customer service representatives) can help to figure out the best solution … in what can be a complicated landscape. Without that call, the utility is in the dark” about a person’s financial situation, said Nils Frederiksen, a PUC spokesman.
Customers could qualify for any number of programs, including funding available through the recently passed American Rescue Plan Act, Frederiksen said.
Other programs available to some customers are the Dollar Energy Fund, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the emergency rental assistance program funded by a stimulus bill last year.
“Shutting off service is the last resort. We don’t want to do that,” West Penn Power Co. spokesman Todd Meyers said. “We are in the business of selling electricity.”
West Penn Power, which has 720,000 customers in Pennsylvania, will not turn off a customer’s electricity on Thursday. The company will send customers a 10-day notice if they are on the list to have electrical service terminated, Meyers said.
The First Energy-owned electric company was owed $70.5 million by 12,341 customers as of February, according to its report filed with the PUC. More customers were considered as “at-risk” accounts in 2020 — 13,666 — but they owed less money, at $54.0 million.
Statewide, there are 890,000 accounts in danger of termination, according to the PUC, which says regulated utilities are owed a collective $856 million. The number of delinquencies is down from 1.1 million accounts last fall, which was higher than normal going into the winter, Frederiksen said.
Columbia Gas has 77,803 at-risk accounts owing $24.1 million to the gas company as of February, up from the 71,815 at-risk accounts owing $71.8 million in February 2020, according to a state filing.
“We want to make sure every customer needing assistance is able to get it, so they never have to face the possibility of losing their service,” said Lee Gierczynski, a spokesman for Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, which serves 436,000 customers in the state.
At Peoples Gas Co., part of water and natural gas provider Aqua America Inc., an aggressive approach to reaching out to at-risk customers through phone calls, mailings and flyers hung on doors has resulted in fewer customers at risk of having their service terminated than last spring, said Barry Kukovich, a spokesman for Peoples Gas in Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania American Water Co., with 750,000 customers statewide, has seen at-risk residential accounts skyrocket from 6,147 in February 2020 to 27,920 a month ago, according to its PUC report, as well as a 66% jump in total amount of arrears from $24.8 million to $40.9 million.
The company “was well ahead of the nationwide mandates to voluntarily suspend shutoffs, reconnect customers and suspend late fees,” said Heather DuBose, a Pennsylvania American spokeswoman for its Western Pennsylvania operations. While the PUC allowed utilities to resume terminations in November, the company extended its suspension of shutoffs through Thursday, DeBose said.
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland is not affected by the PUC’s moratorium on utility shutoffs because it is not an investor-owned entity, so it is not regulated by the PUC, spokesman Matt Junker said.
While the municipal authority has shut off service to a few of its 120,000 customers during the pandemic because of delinquency, Junker said customers can seek assistance through some of the programs available to those companies regulated by the PUC.
Help going unused
What baffles the PUC and utility companies is that “there are millions of dollars … available and not being applied for,” Frederiksen said.
Johnson, chief customer officer for Duquesne Light, suspects the pending moratorium deadline will motivate people to look fora payment plan or other aid to avoid losing service.
The average delinquent bill is about $570, he said.
“Without that little nudge (of a shut-off), we find it is very difficult to talk with some of our customers” about delinquent bills, Johnson said.
Duquesne Light has seen its at-risk accounts rise from 98,181 a year ago to 104,462 in February, with the total amount owed to the utility increasing from $55.5 million to $63.4 million, according to its PUC report.
Without that revenue from its delinquent customers, Johnson said the burden falls on the other paying customers to provide the utility with revenue.
With April 1 as the end of the moratorium on state-regulated utility shutoffs, West Penn Power’s Myers said another problem will arise: scammers.
Those seeking to perpetuate a scam often will tell people they are in danger of having their gas, water or electric turned off unless they make a payment.
Scammers will try to convince a person they can avoid a shut-off by paying their bill with a gift card. In some cases, scammers ask for identifying information from the card, offer to send someone to pick up it up or even make arrangements to meet at another location, Myers said.
“We never accept gift cards” as payment for an electric bill, Myers said.
Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Allegheny | Local | Pittsburgh | Top Stories | Westmoreland
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