Utilities, customers pinched

Dec 30 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Larry Rulison Times Union, Albany, N.Y.

It's getting harder for people to pay their utility bills this year.

Data compiled by the state Public Service Commission show that gas and electric utility customers are increasingly falling behind on their bills, and the number of first-time delinquencies is also rising.

As a result, the number of people having their gas and electric service shut off is also rising, although New York's utilities tend to shy away from the practice in the winter months when temperatures drop.

At the same time, the PSC has started a new initiative to look at ways it can balance the needs of customers having trouble paying their bills with the utilities' need to remain financially sound.

"The financial viability of the state's energy utilities is an important component for the support of efforts to maintain and improve critical utility infrastructure, which, in turn, is needed to provide safe and reliable service," the PSC said in a Dec. 16 order creating the initiative.

Public comments are due to the commission by the middle of next month.

Data from the PSC, first compiled for The Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse, show that more than 1 million utility customers statewide were more than 60 days behind on their bills last month. That's compared to 947,000 customers during November 2007.

First-time delinquencies also are on the rise, with more than 478,425 customers behind for the first time last month, compared to 445,000 a year earlier.

Spokeswoman Anne Dalton said the PSC held an emergency utility summit in September to address the growing problem. Budget billing programs, community outreach efforts and service termination policies were all on the agenda.

And last week, Gov. David Paterson said that due to an increase in funding for the federal Home Energy Assistance Program, known as HEAP, the state has expanded aid for home heating assistance. Now, a family of four earning as much as $56,635 qualifies for HEAP benefits, up from $45,312. The maximum benefit was increased from $800 to $900 for the season.

Figures from National Grid, the dominant utility in the Capital Region, are not as bad as other utilities in the state. In November, the number of National Grid customers more than 60 days in arrears was 252,271, compared to 248,364 in November 2007, an increase of less than 2 percent.

The statewide increase for all utilities was 10 percent, with much of the pain being seen downstate in areas covered by Consolidated Edison.

National Grid terminated only 17 accounts in upstate New York last month, compared to 170 terminations in November 2007.

Much more accounts are shut off during the summer months when heat and electricity aren't as essential. For instance, National Grid shut off 8,589 customers in upstate New York in August. That was actually down from a year earlier, when 8,930 customers were shut off.

National Grid spokesman Alberto Bianchetti said the utility has been working more with customers, knowing the problems caused by the recession, although energy prices have been in decline in recent months.

In the past, he said, accounts would not be shut off when the temperature was below 20 degrees, but now that threshold has been increased to 32 degrees.

Customers are sent a letter 72 hours before service is shut off after they have not paid their bills for an extended period. The elderly and disabled are not shut off.

"It depends on the account," Bianchetti said.