Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Electric disconnections to resume next month
Florida Power & Light plans to resume disconnecting electric service of customers with past-due bills as early as Oct. 1, the utility announced.
The company, provider of electric service for all of South Florida, suspended disconnections in March to help customers suffering economic hardship caused by COVID-19.
FPL announced the resumption in a news release outlining the utility’s plans to help past-due customers get current by providing one-time bill credits of up to $200.
In addition, the utility is seeking approval from state utility regulators to accelerate returns of deposits for customers who have paid all of their bills on time and in full for a year.
FPL said it will resume issuing final notices “beginning with customer accounts that have been past
due since before COVID-19 became widespread in March,” the utility said.
Customers who receive the final notice will temporarily have an additional week to arrange payment of their past-due amounts — which could include spreading that amount over several months, FPL spokesman Christopher McGrath said by email Tuesday, adding, “We’re working with customers one-onone, based on their circumstances.”
But for customers who fail to pay their past-due amounts or contact FPL to make payment arrangement, disconnections are planned to begin “as early as Oct. 1,” McGrath said.
“Disconnection is always a last resort,” Christopher Chapel, FPL’s vice resident of customer service, said in a statement. “The vast majority of customers behind on their bill have not contacted us for help, despite our widespread outreach efforts. Our message to customers in need is simple: ‘Call us. We’re here to help.’”
Resuming disconnections could affect tens of thousands of FPL customers.
During a July 29 workshop, FPL officials told Florida’s Public Service Commission that 285,353 of its accounts were in arrears at the end of June — a 35% increase compared to the 212,139 who were behind a year earlier.
Combined, all of the electric utilities that serve Florida reported that nearly 600,000 of their customers were past due, the News Service of Florida reported after the workshop.
FPL serves more than 5 million residential and commercial accounts across Florida. Its service territory includes all of the state’s southeastern and southwestern regions as well as all of the east coast except Jacksonville.
The one-time $200 credit will be available for residential and small business customers with at least three past-due bills who can pay all of what they owe minus the credit, McGrath said.
Customers with at least two past-due bills may be eligible for a $100 credit. “We are communicating directly with eligible customers to explain how to obtain the credit,” he said.
The utility did not announce any credits or discounts for customers without deposits who have paid their bills on time and in full throughout the crisis. McGrath said on-time, in-full payments have been made by the “wide majority” of FPL customers. All FPL customers received a one-time 25% discount off of their May bills after the utility received permission from state regulators to combine fuel-cost adjustments that would normally be spread throughout the year.
In addition to suspending disconnections, FPL in mid-March began offering payment extensions and waiving late fees for customers experiencing hardship due to the pandemic. Those payment extensions and late fee waivers remain in effect, FPL said.
In a petition to the Public Service Commission, FPL requested approval for reducing to 12 months the standard wait time for customers to receive a refund of their deposits. Normally, FPL refunds deposits to customers after 23 months of continuous service if the customer has paid their bill late no more than once in 12 months.
J.R. Kelly, head of the state’s Office of Public Counsel, which advocates for consumers on utility issues, said he understands that utilities can’t simply allow customers to go without paying forever.
“It’s a tough call,” he said. “People have got to pay their bills. When people don’t pay their bills, everyone else has to cover for them with the rates they pay.”