Utility Customers Make Tough Choices Between Gas and Rent

Do you pay the rent, buy food, or pay PG&E? That's the choice an increasing number of Northern Californians are having to make.

PG&E offices are seeing a steady stream of customers who can't pay their bills. Often owing hundreds of dollars, many of the customers say they'll be able to make partial payments at best.

One such power customer is Velma Wilson. She lives in a small south Stockton home with her husband and three children. In January the family racked up a utility bill of more than $600, their highest single monthly expense. Wilson scraped together $288 for a partial payment, but she wonders if PG&E will cut her off.

Another customer driven to the brink is A.B. Coleman. His bill is higher than his rent. "The only solution I can see is cut off the PG&E, light kerosene lanterns and get some type of wood burning stove, and I'm back to the fifties," said Coleman.

PG&E says it wants to work with customers. "Certainly if somebody's utility bill is more than their mortgage payment or their rent payment, there may be some programs they qualify for that can help them ease that burden," said PG&E spokeswoman Carey Madil.

The utility has no figures yet on how many people are late in making payments, but it expects requests for financial aid to explode. At the same time, PG&E faces financial difficulties in paying its own bills. "Obviously, PG&E has to pay its bills, too, which is why we're able to work within reason with our customers to ease their pain, and at the same time be cognizant of our bottom line," said Madil.

PG&E says with utility bills now so high, about 20 percent of its customers qualify for assistance. Yet, its says of those who are eligible, fewer than half request aid.

PG&E has advisors standing by to help those who are having problems paying their bills. The advisors will help determine if customers qualify for a rate reduction or for financial aid. More information is available by calling PG&E at (800) PGE-5000. The utility says as long as customers make reasonable efforts to pay, their service will not be disconnected.

http://www.kxtv.com/news-story/February2001/022001/PGE-Choices.htm

-- Tess (webwoman@iamit.com), February 21, 2001

Answers

Notice the reference to "back to the fifties...

"Another customer driven to the brink is A.B. Coleman. His bill is higher than his rent. "The only solution I can see is cut off the PG&E, light kerosene lanterns and get some type of wood burning stove, and I'm back to the fifties," said Coleman".

I am afraid, that's what it may very well come down to.

-- Tess (webwoman@iamit.com), February 21, 2001.