CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Money isn’t flowing as freely as it was last fall.
Unemployment hit a record high and just about everyone is feeling the financial pinch on their wallet. If you are struggling to pay bills, here is what Duke Power is offering you in terms of help.
On March 13th, Duke Energy suspended disconnections for non-payment across all the states it serves. Then, on March 16th, Duke Energy began reconnecting customers who were disconnected for nonpayment before the March 13 suspension with no money down. No deposit or reconnection fees were charged.
Getting closer to the end of March, Duke Energy began waiving late payment fees and fees for returned payments for millions of electric and natural gas customers across its service territories; fees for debit and credit card fees were also waived for residential customers if that’s how they chose to pay.
Duke Energy will be announcing the following information Wednesday, WCNC has an advanced look.
“Duke Energy will work with utility regulators in each of the states where the company operates to determine when billing and payment practices can resume, and those timelines may be different. We will be following the states’ lead for when we resume normal operations, and while the timelines may be different, our commitment to customers remains.
Duke Energy will continue to provide assistance to residential and business customers whose accounts have fallen behind due to illness or lost wages.
Support for these efforts includes online tools so customers can directly choose an extended payment arrangement that best fits their needs and simplified processes for accessing funds available through communities’ agencies.
We encourage customers who are behind in their payments, to take advantage of these resources now and to continue paying what they can to avoid large bill balances that may be difficult to manage later.
Duke Energy customers will receive direct communication from the company when standard billing and payment processing is expected to resume. Regardless of the timeline, all customers will have at least one full billing cycle to prepare, discuss options and make payment arrangements.
The company anticipates higher than normal call volume as operations return to normal and encourages customers to consider using the online self-service options now to avoid long wait times.
The online tools will be available late tomorrow to all customers except those in North Carolina. Duke Energy plans to offer similar online tools to North Carolina customers after determining how best to do so consistently with the consumer protection provisions in the ongoing Executive Orders and North Carolina Utilities Commission Orders.
Customers should download the company’s mobile app or visit duke-energy.com for information and most service transactions. Customers who are unable to self-serve can contact the company: Duke Energy Carolinas: 1-800-777-9898
Duke Energy’s customer service specialists are available Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to assist customers with customized payment plans that meet their specific situations.”
Crisis Assistance Ministry is available for those people living in Mecklenburg County.
If you would like to donate to help others struggling, you can do so through the above link or another option is donating used gift cards. https://www.giftcardbank.org/ In Gaston County https://crisisassistancegastonia.org/get-help/ In Cabarrus County https://www.cabarruscounty.us/resources/crisis-financial-assistance In Union County https://unioncrisis.org/home.aspx In Iredell County https://www.needhelppayingbills.com/html/iredell_county_assistance_prog.html In Stanly County https://www.sccminc.org/ In South Carolina https://www.needhelppayingbills.com/html/south_carolina_assistance_prog.html