SOUTHEASTERN, N.C. — This month, many government-owned utilities in North Carolina will begin carrying out utility disconnections after a four-month freeze.
The resumption of some disconnections comes at the same time many other government interventions designed to lessen the financial impact of the coronavirus are expiring.
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The statewide moratorium established under Governor Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 142 that banned utility disconnections expired Wednesday at midnight. Cooper did not extend the disconnection moratorium.
Though he let the disconnection moratorium expire, Governor Roy Cooper did say last week he would soon announce an effort to help residents with rent and utility bills using CARES Act funding. It is unclear at this point exactly what that plan will entail.
Also last week, the N.C. Utilities Commission issued a new order, directing investor-owned utilities to carry out disconnections beginning Sept. 1. It also requires utilities to establish a repayment plan for customers with outstanding bills of no shorter than 12-months. This specific order does not cover government or member-owned utilities.
14% behind
North Carolinians are collectively more than a quarter-billion dollars behind in their utility bills. About 14% of all utility customers in N.C. have outstanding bills, according to the N.C. Utilities Commission.
Between April 1 and June 30, more than 1.3 million residential accounts in North Carolina have become eligible for disconnection, according to the N.C. Utilities Commission (some individuals may have been counted twice or three times in this figure if multiple accounts are eligible for disconnection).
Duke Energy, the largest electric supplier in N.C., will not immediately begin disconnecting eligible accounts. “We would not immediately disconnect power,” Merideth Archie, Duke Energy spokesperson said Thursday.
About 12,000 more accounts this year are eligible for disconnection compared to the same time last year, according to figures Archie shared. Accounts eligible for disconnection are 60 or days more behind on their bills as of the end of June, she said. Duke Energy will give customers a full billing cycle to work out payment plans and make other arrangements before the utility would actually carry out with an eligible disconnection — a new policy the utility has adopted to resume regular service.
Area utilities
Locally, Cape Fear Public Utility Authority announced last week it would continue its own suspension of disconnections through at least the end of August.
Between March 31 and July 28, CFPUA has encumbered an additional $915,826 in outstanding fees between 500 recently delinquent accounts. On the non-residential side, the utility gained 214 new delinquent accounts as of July 28 totaling $376,132 in unpaid bills since March 31, according to data provided by CFPUA.
The average residential CFPUA customer behind on their bills owes $373. (This includes pre-Covid past-due amounts that had already accrued; accounting for fees accrued between March 31 and July 28, outstanding residential accounts owe about $76 more on average, according to CFPUA figures.)
Meanwhile, Pender County Public Utilities plans to resume the process of disconnections mid-August.
Any water accounts that are past due by 45 or more days and have not reached out to request a payment plan will be disconnected, according to Pender County Utilities Director Kenny Keel. Customers are eligible for a six-month payment plan to catch up on costs accrued during the effective dates of the governor’s applicable executive orders (March 31 through July 29).
Likewise, Brunswick County is offering payment plans for customers that request them. The county will begin disconnecting eligible customers in September who do not request payment plans for overdue bills or have a payment plan and fail to make a payment.
Information on how to request a payment plan will be on customers’ August bill and on the county’s online payment portal, according to the county’s spokesperson. Customers may also request a plan by calling Utility Billing at (910) 253-2655 and selecting option two, then four.
Check out a useful graphic courtesy of the N.C. Attorney General’s Office that breaks down how and when utilities can begin the process of disconnection:
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