SRP to Temporarily Suspend Electricity Disconnections
Will also Waive Late Fees during the COVID-19 Pandemic
SRP management has decided to temporarily halt disconnections of all customers and waive late fees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was made in light of the coronavirus outbreak to ease the potential economic burden on customers.
“SRP is concerned about its customers and we will continue to do all we can to help customers keep their power connected during this global health crisis,” said SRP CEO and General Manager Mike Hummel. “Given the magnitude of this exceptional situation that we haven’t seen before and because the local agencies that support the community will be stretched, we believe it is in the best interest of all that we temporarily suspend disconnections.”
The decision to halt disconnections applies to both residential and commercial customers. SRP will attempt to contact customers who are currently disconnected for non-payment to ensure safety at reconnection.
“We strongly encourage any of our customers who are having difficulty paying their electric bill for any reason to contact SRP so our customer service representatives and credit counselors can make arrangements that can help avoid a worsening financial situation,” said Hummel.
SRP’s Here to Help website, https://www.srpnet.com/about/customer-assistance.aspx, provides information on a wide variety of assistance available should a customer have difficulty paying their energy bill. Although SRP is temporarily halting power shutoffs for non-payment, customers will continue to accumulate charges from SRP during this time for electric service.
“SRP will monitor the ongoing health crisis and continue to evaluate our policies and procedures,” said Hummel. “We are also following all guidance from the CDC, including taking steps to reduce the threat of COVID-19 exposure to employees, customers and the community.
“This includes restricting travel, increasing the ability for eligible employees to work from home and implementing additional protocols to keep our facilities clean. All of these steps are being taken to ensure the reliable delivery of water and power.”
SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest provider of electricity in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving more than 1 million customers. SRP is also the metropolitan area’s largest supplier of water, delivering about 800,000 acre-feet annually to municipal, urban and agricultural water users.