Earlier this month, Governor Inslee reissued his emergency proclamation directing all energy, telecommunications,
and water utilities in the state to suspend disconnection for services for nonpayment.
The final moratorium encourages utilities to:
- Continue to make good faith efforts to reach customers with past-due accounts, including partnering with community organizations, and provide information about their various assistance options.
- Help customers identify utility, local, state and federal financial assistance programs they may be eligible for.
- Offer extended payment plans of 12 months or longer.
- Waive disconnection, reconnection, site visit and late fees accrued during the disconnection moratorium, if customers sign up for payment assistance.
- Refrain from reporting overdue accounts to credit bureaus or placing liens on customers with overdue accounts for at least 180 days.
AWC has been in regular and frequent communication with the Governor’s Office, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Health, and other impacted utilities to determine a solution for the significant arrearages facing customer-owned utilities
(COUs). The final moratorium is made possible by the good-faith efforts to provide utility customers notice and resources of the moratorium’s expiration and end the moratorium’s dramatic impact on customer-owned utilities.
The impacts of the pandemic are felt acutely by customer-owned utilities—while a vast majority of utility customers pay what they can as soon as they can, customers that have been most severely impacted by the pandemic continue to accrue significant
utility charges. Given the prolific economic impacts of the pandemic, the accumulation of delinquent payments has surpassed $100 million for customer-owned utilities alone. AWC continues to advocate for dedicated financial assistance to support COUs’
customers with growing financial hardships.