2. We expanded outreach to customers at risk of disconnection for nonpayment.
- We make multiple attempts to contact customers in the form of bill messages, letters, emails, phone calls and door hangers. Each touchpoint encourages customers to reach out so we can work with them – even if they are unable to pay right away.
- Now is a good time for customers to make sure their contact information is up to date so we can reach them with important account information.
- If a customer is disconnected, we urge them to contact us if they cannot pay. We will share options and help expedite getting service restored. Service providers like APS cannot know if a customer is still living at a disconnected address if they take no action to reach us or make a payment.
3. If someone is doing these things and claiming to be APS, it is not us and you might be the victim of a scam:
- We will never call you or knock on your door and demand immediate payment or a specific payment method, such as a prepaid debit card. Visit aps.com/scam to learn more about energy bill scams.
- We do not shut off service for non-payment on Fridays, weekends, holidays, or the day before a holiday.
- We do not shut off service for non-payment on extreme weather days or during the seasonal hold on disconnects from June 1 to October 15.
Regulated electricity service providers joined the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) and other stakeholders in concern about how prolonged holds on disconnecting customers with overdue bills can have the unintended consequence of putting customers into deep debt they will only further struggle to overcome. To monitor this situation after disconnections resumed this year, APS is providing the ACC with quarterly reports on the status of past-due residential accounts.
The data for the first quarter of 2021 shows an overall positive trend of customers paying down or paying off their past-due balances. The number of customers behind on their bills, the total amount of arrearages, the average past-due amount per customer, and the number of customers with a past-due balance greater than $300 all decreased in the first quarter of 2021. The following statistics are included in the report filed with the ACC:
- In the first quarter, 10,207 residential accounts were disconnected. The number of accounts disconnected in each month varied from 0% to 0.5% of all residential accounts.
- Most past due residential accounts (46%) are overdue between $75 and $300. This is below the minimum overdue balance that puts a customer at risk of disconnection. In fact, since January the average overdue account balance per residential customer has decreased by 20%.
- At the end of March, overdue residential balances owed for services rendered totaled $49.5 million dollars, down $20 million since the end of January.
APS remains committed to helping our customers who may need assistance or extra time to pay their bill. We will continue to provide options and help customers gain access to available support.
