Pasadena Water and Power to Resume Collecting Late Fees on July 1

If you’re behind in your utility payments, you better start taking care of it soon.

The process for reinstating late fee notices will resume July 1 for the Pasadena Water and Power Department, a spokesperson confirmed Sunday.

“If a residential customer has an outstanding balance for charges, which only applies to charges assessed after July 1, they would receive the first late fee notice on the next bill,” explained PWP spokesperson Margie Otto. “If the balance is not paid off by the time the second bill is due, a second reminder — a late fee notice would be mailed. And if the outstanding balance remains, the customer will receive a ‘notice for electric disconnect’ by mail.”

To reduce the economic impact of the pandemic, the Pasadena City Council in March 2020 suspended collections and utility cutoffs for nonpayment.

As a result, payment delinquencies owed to the utility since the pandemic have created an unsustainable financial condition for PWP to continue providing reliable water and electric services for the city as a whole.

As of April, about 7,500 residential customers, along with 1,400 commercial accounts, were delinquent by more than 60 days.

Most of the delinquent residential customers owe less than $1,000. The city has reached out to more than 7,000 customers to sign up for a payment plan, but only a few hundred have responded.

“Customers are encouraged to contact PWP Customer Service to establish a payment plan to help manage their entire outstanding balance and to prevent an electric disconnect,” according to a PWP spokesperson.

A number of financial support options are being offered.

Customers who have suffered significant impacts from COVID-19 may qualify for 12-month payment plans. Customers can also apply for payment plans online at cityofpasadena.net/water-and-power/billassistance or contact PWP customer service at (626) 744-4005.

PWP also offers low-income electric customers several bill assistance options, including Project APPLE which the City Council recently increased the annual one-time support from $100 to $200.

More information is available on the Pasadena Water and Power website cityofpasadena.net/water-and-power.