Committee endorses IID plan to end shutoff moratorium
IMPERIAL — Ending the moratorium on the Imperial Irrigation District electrical disconnections appears to be gaining more steam after the IID’s Energy Consumers Advisory Committee reversed its vote Friday night after rejecting a different plan in November.
The committee voted 14-0 to endorse the new plan after the delinquencies increased to more than $11 million. About 78 percent of the accounts are past due by more than 91 days.
The number of delinquent accounts have increased from 1,585 in March to 13,162 in December, which is an increase of 700 percent.
Although the meeting was supposed to be open to the public online, more than half of it was beset with technical difficulties that made it nearly impossible to view.
The recommendation the board will vote on next Tuesday is for all accounts with a balance of $50 or more that have not enrolled in a payment plan must be in a plan by Feb. 17.
The recommendation made to the ECAC was to implement a plan that would immediately begin communications regarding delinquent customer accounts and reinstate disconnects for non-payment effective Feb. 17.
ECAC members were concerned that some residents might not be able to afford the payments, though Finance Director Belen Valenzuela said the district had yet to be contacted by them, so there is no way to know about their situation. She added there are funds available for those who might need them.
Those customers who are not on an energy assistance program will need to pay off their delinquent account within eight months.
For customers on an energy assistance program or who have provided documentation of a coronavirus hardship, there will be a 12-month payment plan.
Customers on IID’s energy assistance program or those who declared a COVID hardship will be referred to other community agency programs and resources that are able to provide assistance.
Customers requesting a payment plan modification over eight months and not under financial hardship will be required to pay at least 25 percent of their utility bills accumulated in 2020 with the remaining amount to be paid over a 12-month period.
Examples of COVID-19 financial hardship include loss of a job or reduction of hours; loss of wages; childcare responsibilities; care for an elderly, disabled or sick family member with COVID-19, and closed commercial businesses.
The average residential average delinquency is $433, so under the eight-month plan the amount due per month would be $54.20. For those in the 12-month payment plan, the amount would be $36.13 a month.
For those classified as residential high-consumption delinquency with several thousands of dollars past due, the average payment in the eight-month plan be $1,164. It would be $776 a month for those in the 12-month payment plan.
Failure to meet the terms of the plans would result in disconnections.
A proposal submitted by Comite Civico del Valle asked for a 25 percent forgiveness for good payment history, but IID rejected that idea. Doing so, the district said, could result in rate increases and is not fair to those who have been making payments.
General Manager Henry Martinez made it clear this is not something the IID will consider.
Forgiveness could also potentially affect IID’s credit rating and be perceived as a gift of public funds, he said, adding IID is a not-for-profit public agency and its revenues are based on customer rate recovery.