Cutoffs looming for Ga. gas users

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Cutoffs looming for Ga. gas users

By Justin Bachman The Associated Press

ATLANTA - Georgia utility regulators have a message for delinquent gas customers - break out those wallets or prepare a payment plan because the unpaid gas bill has come due.

An estimated 150,000 to 190,000 Georgians face gas service termination starting Monday as a moratorium on gas cutoffs expires. About a quarter of those are in the metro Atlanta region.

Jan. 17, the Public Service Commission imposed a moratorium on shutoffs for nonpayment because of record high winter heating bills and billing problems caused by deregulation. The moratorium ends Sunday, although no service will end until the next business day.

"Make a payment plan," counseled Bill Edge, a spokesman for the commission, which has been running radio and newspaper announcements about the pending shutoffs.

"Just sending in a little bit of money on the bill without making arrangements to pay it is not going to save you from being disconnected."

But many people have found that making arrangements has proved virtually impossible, as a glut of calls keep gas marketers' phones busy for two, three, four or more hours, said Ann Harris-Humphrey, energy coordinator at the DeKalb County Economic Opportunity Authority, which helps low-income families pay their heating bills.

"I'll bet you we've had over 1,000 calls since 8:30 this morning," Harris-Humphrey said Friday afternoon. "You can't get through to customer service. One lady just asked me if she could e-mail them."

Why the delay to address unpaid bills?

"Procrastination," she said. "Procrastination and fear."

The state's largest gas marketer, Georgia Natural Gas Services, plans to commence its service disconnections Tuesday to see how many people pay or make arrangements Monday.

Charles Thornton has been trying to make arrangements, with little luck.

The Decatur man, who receives a $530 monthly disability check from Social Security, has a $1,200 Georgia Natural Gas bill, said Humphrey-Harris, who has been trying to reach the marketer on his behalf. Thornton has paid $200 on the account.

"There are a lot of people who are saying they can make arrangements - but they still don't know if they can pay it," she said.

Under PSC rules, service disconnects require five days notice, payments must be at least 45 days late and the gas marketer must make a "good faith effort" to contact the customer.

Marketers have been sending notices and making automated phone calls to those with overdue bills. Scana Energy, Georgia's third-largest marketer, says 45,000 customers have past due accounts. Those who have not paid for as long as four months will be disconnected first, spokesman Roger Schrum said.

Atlanta Gas Light Co., which distributes natural gas, expects next week will be "sort of hectic," company spokesman Nick Gold said.

Each marketer is allowed to send AGL a limited number of disconnection requests per day, based on market share. March 20, the PSC voted to give smaller marketers extra cutoffs because they have not had the same billing troubles as the three largest marketers.

AGL workers can disconnect 1,200 homes per day and connect half that many. The company performs no gas shutoffs Friday so that people will not be without gas on a weekend, when they cannot address their accounts, he said.

The company has prohibited field service workers from scheduling time off or taking vacations. AGL expects it would take about two months to disconnect 150,000 customers, although the final number could be far lower.

http://www.macontelegraph.com/content/macon/2001/03/31/local/gas.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 31, 2001

Answers

Web posted Sunday, April 1, 2001

Gas cut-offs start Monday, but the process may take months

By Ben Werner Savannah Morning News So you've been avoiding those natural gas bills.

It's a gamble, scooting by, paying what you can, hoping the gas man doesn't come around until summer.

For thousands, this was the only way to make it through a cold winter that just didn't want to end.

And thanks to the Georgia Public Service Commission stacking the deck in your favor with a disconnection moratorium, natural gas marketers couldn't cut anyone off.

Not until April 1. Not until today.

But take heart, delinquent gas bill payers, you have achieved relative safety in numbers.

So many customers owe money on their bills -- at least 10 percent of all customers and perhaps more -- some may not lose their gas until it's time to roast that Thanksgiving turkey.

Atlanta Gas Light Co. is in charge of shutting off everyone's natural gas. That's partly what those pass-through charges pay for. But the company expect to be woefully overwhelmed with cut-off requests from its customers -- the marketers.

"We can only do 1,200 a day in the service territory, so it's a process that will take some time," said Lisa Dudley, Atlanta Gas spokeswoman.

Estimates of the number of Georgians on the brink of losing their natural gas range from 150,000 to more than 200,000, said Bobby Baker, a member of the Public Service Commission. Statewide there are roughly 1.5 million residential, small business and large industrial natural gas customers.

Cut-offs are only done Monday through Thursday, so looking at a calendar and counting national holidays, Atlanta Gas Light crews anticipate a summer and fall spent shutting-off last winter's delinquents.

The Public Service Commission was forced to set rules ensuring that Atlanta Gas Light spread gas shut-offs fairly among all the marketers.

Baker said the commission didn't want one marketer getting all the disconnections before any competitors could cut-off their unpaid customers.

SCANA Energy, for example, is one of the largest marketers in Georgia, and reports that more than 45,000 of its customers face disconnection. It would be months before Atlanta Gas Light cuts service for any other marketer's customers if SCANA put its requests in first.

Locally, at least 10,000 to 15,000 Chatham County families risk losing their gas, said Craig J. Cashman, executive director of the Chatham-Savannah Authority for the Homeless.

"These are households," Cashman said. "We're not (just) talking about the elderly. We're talking about the working poor."

Nobody can be shut-off who is taking part in a gas marketer-approved payment plan, Baker said. The Public Service Commission requires all marketers to offer customers the option to sign up for a payment plan.

Baker said it is up to the marketers to decide who loses gas first.

"All we have been saying is be sure all the rules have been followed," Baker said. "My colleagues and I are not going to tolerate a customer on a budget-billing plan getting shut off."

National gas marketers all offer some sort of payment plan.

With the April 1 cut-off date quickly approaching, marketers have been receiving more payments.

Shell Energy's billing department, for example, has been busy the past two weeks, said Tim Sheehan, Shell's business manager in Atlanta.

"Basically people are honest," he said. "They want to pay their bills."

In recent weeks, about 8,000 SCANA customers have made payment arrangements, said Michael O'Connor, SCANA's south Georgia region manager.

Aid organization officials are also encouraging customers to make payment arrangements with their marketers.

They say it is easier to find a warm meal in Savannah than it is to get help paying utility bills. Anyone contemplating buying groceries or paying bills is encouraged to pay bills and seek assistance from food banks.

Through a state heating and energy assistance program, the Economic Opportunity Authority has been able to help 3,039 households pay bills from this past heating season, said Mary Ann McBride, special projects director.

The authority's help has been stymied by a state law capping such help to qualifying households at $82 per year.

"I've got one (bill) on my desk for $2,500," McBride said.

Savannah resident Lillian Williams says her back bills now total more than $1,000. She's been paying what she can. But she fears that, because the gas marketers can cut off owing customers, she will lose the natural gas used to heat her home and hot water.

"We have to depend on the good master," Williams said. "If the Lord sees fit, he'll cut me off or he'll prevent them for doing so."

For those folks whose luck runs out, they can expect to do without natural gas for a long time -- up to twice as long as it took to get shut off. Atlanta Gas Light says it averages about 600 turn-ons a day.

Business reporter Ben Werner can be reached at 652-0381 or by e-mail at bwerner@savannahnow.com. Reporter Erik Tryggestad contributed to this story.

http://www.savannahmorningnews.com/smn/stories/040101/LOCgascutoff.sht ml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 02, 2001.


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