About 300 Columbus residences have their power cut off each month, including months when it’s cold outside.
For those that find themselves without electricity, local agencies can help keep them warm.
Many affected by power loss because of inability to pay tend to stay with family or get financial help from local agencies to turn their lights back on. But some turn to the Community Outreach Center for help with finding shelter.
Glenda Buckhalter, community outreach director for the city-funded organization, said at least one of the 10 people the organization helped by paying for hotel rooms last week was there, not because of homelessness, but because of inability to pay their power bill.
“The light bill was really, really high, and we couldn’t pay it,” Buckhalter said. “It was just easier for us to put them in a hotel than try to take on a $700 light bill.”
Part of Buckhalter’s job is to find churches or charitable organizations to help pay utility bills or to pay for them herself. She can also set people up in hotel rooms or provide blankets and new heaters for people who need to keep warm.
Having no electricity is a dangerous situation for people to find themselves in, Buckhalter said, especially in winter.
There’s always the danger of freezing to death, she said, but people also tend to use dangerous heating methods when they can’t use electricity. Things like candles or old heaters can start fires, and fumes from kerosene heaters can be deadly, she said.
Thankfully the difficulties of going without power in cold weather is something utility companies are sensitive to. The Public Service Commission has a mid-winter rule in which power companies don’t cut off service during the months of December through March for customers in financial straits who agree to an extended payment plan. But customers have to have paid bills in full prior to Nov. 11.
Most utility companies also won’t cut off power when under a severe weather advisory, such as when the temperature isn’t expected to rise above 32 degrees.
“When it’s been either really cold or extremely hot, then we do check the weather,” Starkville Utilities General Manager Terry Kemp said. “If the weather forecast for that day says that Starkville is not expected to exceed 32 degrees Fahrenheit, we’re not going to cut anybody off that day.”
It’s the same story with Columbus Light and Water, according to general manager Todd Gale.
“On days when it’s excessively cold or excessively hot, we don’t cut off for non payment,” Gale said.
Those temporary reliefs don’t extend past the weather advisories. The companies also don’t have policies of waiving reconnection fees during the cold winter months.
But whatever the weather, Buckhalter aims to get people without power either the money they need to turn the lights and heat back on or a hotel room for two to three nights. The problem is, she doesn’t always have the funding to do so.
That’s one of the reasons she asks residents in need to give her as much notice as possible when they think they may need help paying utility bills. It gives her time to find finances or resources from churches or other agencies that can help.
“If you know your financial situation has changed — your hours have been cut at work, you got sick — come then and say, ‘Hey, I’ve been able to do this, but now I can’t. Can I get some help,'” Buckhalter said.
She also urged other people to do what they can to help family members who may not have heat or shelter.
“If you know that you have family members that are struggling, even if you’re dealing with situations right now, at least check on them,” Buckhalter said. “Take them a blanket. Help us help them by providing money to them for hotels or allowing them to stay in that place until the cold weather passes.”
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