Effective September 1, the Nushagak Cooperative is no longer extending electricity services to customers who fail to make payments during the winter months.
Until now, the cooperative has maintained electricity for customers when temperatures dropped below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, regardless of overdue payments. This temperature exemption policy protected customers who weren't able to pay their bills from losing heat during freezing conditions.
Customers with overdue accounts would face disconnection in the spring until their balances were settled. Angela Thames, Business Office Manager at the cooperative, says “For a person unable to pay their bills, it was not doing them any favors.”
The Temperature exemption had been in effect since the cooperative's founding in 1975. Angela Thames, Business Office Manager at the cooperative, says the policy was a holdover from past days with a smaller community. In present days, with the cooperative's growing customer base, she says it is no longer feasible to absorb the financial impact of unpaid winter balances.
The new policy puts customers at risk of losing access to heat during freezing conditions, but Thames says that customers facing financial hardship can still request payment extensions. She says the cooperative will consider these requests on a case-by-case basis and work with individuals to keep their homes heated throughout the winter.
