Local utility companies are working with customers to pay off bills amidst a temporary halt on service disconnects due to coronavirus.
Governor Andy Beshear on May 8 ordered a moratorium on utility disconnections for non-payments and fees for late payments. Under the order, Beshear also suspended evictions for those failing to pay rent.
Spokesperson for West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation Georgeann Lookofsky says the moratorium is continuing and is reviewed regularly. She said WKRECC does not have a date for reinstating disconnects at this time.
“We have been reaching out to members and we will offer payment plans. Those will look different depending on each member and what their situation is so we’ll work with them personally,” she said.
Lookofsky said WKRECC is encouraging members to pay what they can, when they can.
“Because obviously that will help reduce that burden when the moratorium does end. Even small payments can help offset that.”
She said roughly 1,200 people currently would be subject to disconnect if the moratorium were lifted.
“Of course the amount owed by those members is going to vary substantially from one account to the next. That works out to be roughly a little over three percent of our total members,” Lookofsky said.
She said several WKRECC members have been able to receive assistance through the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. She said the program has additional funding this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WKRECC postponed disconnects for non-payments starting March 17 this year. The energy cooperative also waived late fees for bills with due dates beginning March 23.
WKRECC serves more than 31,000 members total across Calloway, Carlisle, Graves and Marshall counties and distributes Tennessee Valley Authority power.
Benton Gas Office Manager Jessica Scillian said the utility service also issued their moratoriums in March. She said the temporary halt on disconnects will end when Beshear lifts the order.
Scillian said Benton Gas offered payment plans before the pandemic and will continue to do so after the moratorium expires. She said roughly 3,500 out of 6,500 Benton Gas customers have a late payment due.
“But we’re only at like an $8,000 past due amount,” she said. “So for a several million dollar billing company, we’re really pleased with that.”
She said Benton Gas will not go “straight into disconnects” when the order is lifted. She said the company will offer a payment service plan with no interest or additional fees. She said the Benton mayor would probably determine how long people would have to catch up on bills. She estimated a three- to six-month payment window.
“The benefit of being on gas is that this has happened in the summer and most of the utility bills are very--gas bills--are very low in the summer. Our minimum gas bill in the summer is less than $10. So if this had happened in heating season we would probably be in a whole different ball game,” Scillian said.
She said $5 to $10 payments can tremendously help a person’s balance decrease.
Scott Adair of Jackson Purchase Electric Cooperative said the moratorium was issued mid-March by the Kentucky Public Service Commission. Adair is the Vice President of Human Resources & Communications at JPEC. The electric utility serves roughly 30,000 people across Ballard, Carlisle, Graves, Livingston, Marshall and McCracken counties.
Adair said 1,246 consumer members have a 30-day or more bill that is past due. He said that comes to a past due total amount of roughly $286,000.
Adair said in March the utility had 226 disconnects with a total past due amount of $10,126.
“You can see there’s a big difference,” he said.
He said JPEC has deep concern for the community and realizes there are families struggling. Adair said the utility is committed to working with consumer members who may have trouble paying their electric bills.
“We’re calling consumer members once they hit the 90 day past due mark. We give them a call...and we talk to them about payment plans. We talk to them about assistive services that they can participate in, such as West Kentucky Allied Services and Pennyrile Allied Services.”
Adair said he hasn’t heard anything regarding when the moratorium will end. He said JPEC is still having to pay for the energy that they’re providing, regardless of the moratorium.
“We’re not getting a lot of the revenue back in to pay for that,” he said. “Right about 75 cents for every dollar does go to pay for our wholesale power bill. We’re a not-for-profit organization. We’re an electric cooperative that’s owned by our members and it’s tough--it’s tough right now.”
