SAN ANTONIO – CPS Energy will move to its normal billing operations this fall after more than a year of suspending disconnections due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The energy company on Wednesday announced that starting in September, the utility will no longer suspend disconnections because of non-payment. Residential customers will be affected starting in October.
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As of June 30, 83,587 residential accounts are past due, and of those, about 70,288 accounts could be disconnected, according to spokeswoman Nora Castro.
Castro said the basis for disconnection differs by account. Customers are typically eligible for disconnection between a range of 42 to 64 days after their bill is issued if it goes unpaid, according to a release from CPS Energy.
The amount owed from those delinquent residential accounts totals $92.5 million, according to CPS Energy. The average residential customer has a past due balance of $602.
A total of 8,823 commercial accounts are past due, and of those, 4,135 accounts could be disconnected. The amount owed by those delinquent commercial accounts totals $18.3 million.
“We’re doing all we can to prevent customers from being disconnected. Nobody has to be disconnected if they will just call us to work through their specific situations,” Rudy Garza, CPS Energy’s Chief Customer & Stakeholder Engagement Officer, said in a news release. “In addition to the tens of millions of dollars in federal and other assistance we have connected our customers with, we will continue to work with customers by means of payment arrangements as we always have in the past. We are committed to helping our community as we return to normal operations.”
CPS Energy started the suspensions in March 2020 just as COVID-19 began to spread in Texas. The utility states they also waived late fees for customers who enrolled in a payment plan.
The utility does not disconnect during the December holidays.
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