Utility shut-off ban ends today

By ERIC SEIVERLING
eseiverling@yourmvi.com

A year-long moratorium issued by the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission that prevented utility companies from terminating late or non-paying customers’ gas, water or electric services ended yesterday, which means utility companies can begin the process of shutoffs today.
The moratorium was issued in March last year to help utility customers who were impacted by job loss or job reduction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, utility companies urge customers who are delinquent with their payments to contact their utility companies to negotiate a payment plan or take advantage of assistance programs to stave off service termination.
West Penn Power Senior Communications Representative Todd Meyers said there are customers who haven’t paid their bills in over a year.
“There is an elevated number of customers at risk,” he said. “Not only are we willing to talk to them, we’re willing to help them. But, they need to pick up the phone and give us a call.”
According to the PUC website, there are 890,000 accounts across the state in danger of termination, which amounts to $856 million in owed utilities.
West Penn Power services 720,000 people in the state, and Meyers said more people applied for payment plans in 2019 before the pandemic hit the area in 2020.
“One of the more baffling aspects of this pandemic is we know there are customers who need help but they’re not reaching out,” he said. “There are customers who have never been in that situation before, and they may not know how to ask for help.
“It’s a challenging landscape, but we have professionals on our end. We have customer service representatives who have all your account information at their fingertips, and they have knowledge of all the programs to get help. We’re able to walk them through the various possibilities and get them in touch with the dollars they need. The number of dollars is limited, so it’s incumbent for people to get moving on that.

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