The City of Ashland Electric Utility and Public Works Department are offering their support to utility customers unable to pay their utility payments due to COVID-19. Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s Executive Orders 20-3 through 20-20 related to the COVID-19 pandemic allowed the City to protect customer’s electric and water services from non-payment. The Executive Orders are in effect until June 30, 2020.
The City’s COVID-19 Account Payment Deferral Program allows for utility accounts with delinquent amounts to have those charges deferred based on either a six-month or twelve-month repayment plan option. Features of the deferment plans include:
• The negotiated portion of the deferred amount will be due and payable by the normal utility bill due date each month, along with the current month’s charges.
• To continue the deferment program for the full length of the six- or twelve-month period, customers must pay the deferred amount each month or risk being removed from the program.
• Any account older than three months that has a deposit on file can choose to apply that deposit directly towards the utility account balance.
For more information and to apply go to
ashland.or.us/deferralapp. Contact the Customer Service Division at (541) 488-6004, or
utilitybilling@ashland.or.us for questions regarding the application or program details. Applications can be emailed or dropped at the Utility Billing drop box at City Hall.
Also, the joint Legislative Emergency Board directed $15 million in utility assistance to Oregon Housing and Community Services to be delivered through Community Action Agencies to qualifying low income Oregonians. The intended use of these funds is “to help prevent, prepare for, or respond to the coronavirus”. These funds are separate from the regular Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) grant as well as the LP20-CARES funds and will be administered locally by ACCESS. To see if you qualify for this utility assistance, contact ACCESS at (541) 779-6691 or by visiting
www.accesshelps.org.
