Emergency Electric Grant Program May Help Borough Residents
Over the last several weeks, council and myself have been discussing the financial challenges the ongoing pandemic has brought to bear on residents and what our role as a utility provider and as a government is to ensuring that we are not creating ongoing financial burdens at a time when many residents are struggling to pay for essential items. Early in the pandemic, it was decided that Lansdale Electric would not turn off any customer who could not pay, nor would we charge fees for unpaid bills. However, this process cannot go on forever and we need to better understand the volume of people who are facing financial hardship so that we can focus our efforts on ensuring that those who need help are receiving it.
To further understand and quantify the issue, the borough has been reviewing accounts that are carrying a balance for multiple months. What was found is that, in total, there is around $25,000, dispersed against 138 accounts, in outstanding balances that began when the pandemic started. However, it is anticipated that since unemployment benefits have been decreased by $600/week, more residents may face financial challenges as unemployment remains at historic levels across our community and the country.
It is without question that some residents are struggling financially from the pandemic. In some cases, one or both parents are no longer working while their children are spending more time at home than ever before. Also, once the emergency ends and bills are due, the financial challenge of spending months unemployed will not be over. Suddenly shelling out thousands owed on back due bills will push more residents even further into financial hardship. The goal of any relief effort should be focused on avoiding the compounding impact of debt and drowning residents in bills as we reemerge from the pandemic.
This project is still being worked on and defined. Ideally, I believe, we would have a two-tiered local relief effort. The first being a long-term no interest, no fees deferment of payment. This option would be open to anyone who has fallen behind on payments of two months or more. Three months prior to deferment ending, the borough would reach out to anyone who has deferred their overdue bills to work out a payment plan to ensure the re-payment does not land all at once.
Tier two would be a one-time elimination of debt for anyone who is three months or more behind on their electric payments to the borough. People will need to apply for relief to the borough highlighting their ongoing challenge and how they plan to manage their bills going forward. This will bring these residents square with the borough while opening the line of communication about how we can help them continue to manage this issue.
Finally, no one would be eligible who was already running behind on their bills prior to the emergency beginning. This program is directly-related to the pandemic, and the program would be focused on helping residents who have been directly impacted by COVID-19 and the economic impacts that have been felt by it. Creating a tightly scoped relief program allows us to have maximum impact while helping the most people possible.
For comparative purposes, if all 138 accounts qualify for direct relief (they won’t), and the full spend is $25,000, that would be far less than we spent opening the pools for the community this year. From an impact perspective, the per member spend for the pools was around $300/member. This program would be around $181/per electric account at its maximum. I am not saying that opening the pools was a poor investment. I am saying that this investment in our community is less demanding on our pocketbook and is an essential service that residents absolutely need.
It goes without saying that all relief programs have challenges and every relief program faces people who are looking to take advantage or abuse them. However, the negative impact of allowing residents to accumulate ongoing debt with our utility far outweighs any potential abuse that might occur. Additionally, this program is a direct investment in our community. We are helping our residents get back on their feet as they continue to try and recover from the massive economic impact of this pandemic.