Those who are overdue on their electric or natural gas bills may lose their service today as the moratorium on cold weather utility disconnections ends April 1st.
Alliant Energy spokesman Dave Koch says people who are two months behind on their bills need to start putting a plan together to pay their bill. Koch says anyone who is 60 or more days behind on their bills could face disconnection.
They want customers to make arrangements to either pay the bill in full or work out the details of a payment plan. Koch says the number of customers who are behind on their bills is up from this time last year.
The number is up slightly but he says it’s not as much as you’d expect with the poor economy, but it’s about 26,000 customers in Alliant’s Iowa territory who are behind with the total dollar amount owed around $5.5 million.
Koch says if you are behind on your bills and you can’t pay off what you owe, now is the time to start working on finding a solution to the problem. He says you can call Alliant at 800-327-2708 to work out a payment plan, or you can try to apply for low-income household funds through the federal government and the local community action agencies.
For information about the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, funds are available for qualified customers through April 15th. Visit the website " www.dcaa.iowa.gov " and click on Bureau of Energy Assistance.