News Release

Unpaid utility bill? Help's available
Editorial for The Huntsville Times by Bill Yell

March 7, 2005

As a first step, place a timely call to Huntsville Utilities.

Huntsville Utilities' purpose is to provide Huntsville and Madison County with electricity, natural gas and water services at the lowest possible rate. The rate Huntsville Utilities residential customer's pay for electricity is more than 35 percent lower than the current national average.

The majority of the over 140,000 Huntsville Utilities customers pay the bill for their utility services on time. This allows Huntsville Utilities to maintain the low rates. The power bill to TVA for the month of January alone was nearly $21 million.

Sometimes customers have difficulties paying for the utility services that they have used. Regretfully, this is when Huntsville Utilities must take measures to collect on unpaid utility accounts.

Since Huntsville Utilities is publicly owned and not-for-profit, uncollected debt would have to be covered by increased customer rates. Disconnecting services is the final option in trying to encourage a customer to pay their utility bill. Payment options are available to customers when they find it difficult to pay a utility bill.

There are delayed payment options and monthly payment plans. A customer can make a short-term agreement that will delay a payment up to 14 days from the cut-off date. They can also have a long-term agreement so that a large bill is divided into four monthly payments. During 2004, over 165,000 payment agreements were made between Huntsville Utilities and customers.

To make this process easier for the customers, a new telephone system was recently added that will handle automated payment agreements. The first step though is for the customer to contact Huntsville Utilities. What if the customer just can't pay the bill? Huntsville Utilities is an active member of the Humanitarian Committee, which provides a direct line of communication with various agencies that provide assistance not only with utility payments, but also rent, food and medical needs.

During 2004, a total of 6,300 families received utility assistance from agencies and religious groups within the community totaling almost $800,000. Again, the first step is to contact Huntsville Utilities for agencies available to provide assistance.

Then there is Project Share. The Project Share program hit a milestone in February when the program reached the $2 million mark in assistance. During the month of January, the program dispersed $51,458 in utility assistance to 345 households in the community. One hundred percent of the tax-deductible contributions go directly to those in need. Thank you to every customer who has contributed to this worthy program over its sixteen-year history.

There are options available for customers who need help with their utility bill. The first step though, is contacting Huntsville Utilities.

Bill Yell is the communications director for Huntsville Utilities. The utility agency can be reached at 535-1200.