Columbus City Utilities is choosing not to disconnect customers, despite the state moratorium preventing shutoffs expiring.
While the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has chosen not to extend the state’s moratorium on disconnections past Aug. 14, the utilities department will not be disconnecting customers at present, said Arron O’Neal, city utilities manager of finance and business operations.
“We want to be a partner in the community and realize there’s still many residents and businesses struggling during this time and having financial hardships,” he said.
One of IURC’s orders is that the utilities must offer payment extensions for all delinquent customers, regardless of their customer class. These extensions must be a minimum of six months. O’Neal said Columbus City Utilities will offer a standard six-month payment plan, as well as nine-month plans and 12-month plans considered on a case-by-case basis.
He said that the department is making every effort to reach out to delinquent customers about these plans.
“We’ve done emails, phone calls,” he said. “We’re putting it on the website. … We have also put it on every single customer’s bill that if they need assistance, to reach out to us. We have an online form that they can fill out and submit to us. They can call us. They can come to our office. So we’re trying to be as transparent with all of our customers to give them a chance to get on the payment plans.”
The current deadline to sign up for a payment plan is Oct. 30, but it’s possible that the IURC or the governor’s office may choose to push that date back.
If a customer does not sign up for a payment plan by the deadline, there are other options regarding payment extensions and assistance.
“Before all the COVID pandemic happened, we had payment extensions or ‘will pay’ agreements that we would offer,” O’Neal said. “Essentially, any past due balance can be extended until the day before the current charges are due, or paying in full the past due plus the current bill, it can be extended until the current charge due date.”
He said that this would be an option for customers who did not get on a payment plan before the deadline, though he added, “It just does not give them the non-penalizable and non-disconnectable status. … If they make their payment on time, they will not be disconnected.”
O’Neal also said that Columbus City Utilities has been working with the Winston Terrell Group, a public outreach firm, to contact customers and make them aware of local agencies and programs that provide financial assistance for utilities payments.
These include Human Services Inc, the Indiana National Guard Family Assistance Program, Salvation Army, the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center, Love Chapel, United Way of Bartholomew County, Township Trustees and the City of Columbus’s Rental Assistance Program.
Some of these programs have “conditions” for eligibility. The Indiana National Guard helps active duty guard families and veterans from any military branch. Love Chapel provides emergency funding for disconnects only.
And, according to the city’s website, the rental assistance program is only for residents who have been furloughed as a result of the pandemic, have low-to-moderate income and have not been assisted by other community agencies.
O’Neal said that there is no set date, at present, for when disconnections will resume.
Through July 31, there are a total of 958 delinquent customer accounts (840 of which are residential), totaling $222,623 in delinquent balances.
“We don’t have the manpower at the utilities to disconnect almost 1,000 customers right now,” he said. “But at the same time, we want customers, we need customers to make their payments, and we’re urging them to get on these payment plans, because we don’t know exactly when we will start disconnecting. We know when we can, but it’s kind of up in the air, as far as when we will actually follow through on that, just given the manpower and time and the energy and the money it takes to disconnect customers.”
O’Neal noted that while the IURC’s latest order also gives the utilities the ability to penalize nonresidential customers, Columbus City Utilities will not be penalizing customers at this time.
“The most recent IURC cause extended the collection of noncurrent charges and penalties an additional 60 days but (for) residential customers only,” he said. “So that’s getting into October, at this point. They did identify that nonresidential customers can begin receiving those charges, however, due to the available resources to those larger, industrial and commercial customers.”
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- Human Services, Inc. — Provides emergency assistance that is income-based. 4355 E. County Road 600N, Columbus, IN 47203. Contact: 800-296-8026 or (812) 372-8407.
- Indiana National Guard Family Assistance Program — Provides assistance to active duty Guard families or veterans of any branch. 711 N. Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis, IN 46204. Contact: 800-237-2850, Ext. 72694.
- Salvation Army Corps of Bartholomew County — Provides emergency assistance, when funding is available. 2525 Illinois Ave., Columbus, IN 47201. Contact: (812) 327-7118.
- Lincoln Central Neighborhood Family Center — Assistance provided for residents of LCNF service area, only when other assistance is exhausted. 1039 Sycamore St., Columbus, IN 47201. Contact: (812) 379-1630.
- Love Chapel — Provides emergency funding for disconnections only. 292 Center St., Columbus, IN 47201. Contact: (812) 372-9421.
- United Way of Bartholomew County — Can help those in need of assistance connect with other agencies. 1531 13th St., Suite 1100, Columbus, IN 47201. Contact: 2-1-1 or (812) 376-3001.
- Columbus Township Trustee — Provides emergency assistance for township residents. Contact: 812-372-8249. (Columbus City Utilities can also provide contact numbers for trustees of other townships).
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The city’s rental assistance program provides emergency financial assistance to pay rent and utilities.
The program is only for residents within the city of Columbus who have been furloughed as a result of the pandemic, have low-to-moderate income and have not been assisted by other community agencies.
More information can be found on the city’s website at columbus.in.gov, or by contacting ARa at (812) 376-9949.
Applications are available in English and Spanish on the city’s website and should be mailed, emailed, or dropped off to the Administrative Resources association (ARa) at 748 Franklin St. ARa is administering the program for the city and will process applications on a first-come, first-served basis.
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More information about penalties and fees is available at columbusutilities.org/billing-rates/.
More information about utilities assistance will be posted on the department’s website at columbusutilities.org.
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