Surveys

Table 1: State Listing of Shut-Off and Arrearage Information

May 14, 2001

Arrearage and shut-off data is currently being collected by NEADA. As of May 14, 19 states and the District of Columbia reported arrearages totaling almost $910 million owed by 4.3 million families. The following is a brief state-by-state summary of those states providing arrearage and shut-off data. For further information about this survey contact: Mark Wolfe, NEADA, 202-237-5199.

California
Southern California Gas has experienced a 96% increase in delinquencies among its residential customers from February 2000 to February 2001 increasing from 369,000 delinquent customers to 723,000 within that period. During the same period, arrearages for Southern California Edison increased from $51 million to $100 million, while the number of customers in arrearage increased from 431,182 to 567,256.

Connecticut
Under the state's moratorium, Connecticut Natural Gas reported 12,994 families as compared to 10,378 last year; United Illuminating reported 12,000 families (of which 7,000 are delinquent and could be terminated between April 16th and May 16th, depending on the billing cycle); and Connecticut Light and Power reported 25,950 households. The number of delinquents may also drop as customers make payments/arrangements when faced with the prospect of having their service disconnected.

District of Columbia
Washington Gas reported that 14,694 residential customers who were at least 60 days in arrears owed approximately $6.6 million. Of that total 5,229 have received shut-off notices and were mailed a special letter urging immediate action to avoid shut-off.

Georgia
Approximately 200,000 families owe about $80 million in arrearages. These families could potentially lose their gas service beginning April 1st when the moratorium is lifted.

Indiana
The moratorium on shut-offs will expire on April 1st. Arrearages are estimated to have increased to $30.5 million from $14.4 million. Approximately 50,000 families could be at risk of shut-off.

Iowa
The state has reported there are 180,000 families with more than $34.5 million in arrearages, more than double last year's amount. The state PUC has extended the moratorium until May 1st.

Kansas
Kansas Gas Service reported that 27,000 of their customers are in arrears, with average amounts that are two to three times larger than normal due to the increased costs of utilities. Last week, the Kansas PUC extended the moratorium on natural gas and electric service disconnections through May 31st.

Kentucky
Natural gas arrearages total $30.9 million with 94,010 pending shutoffs.

Louisiana
Entergy, the state's utility serving the New Orleans area, reported $32.9 million in arrearages, up from $14 million last year. The average amount in arrears this year is $400 vs. $267 last year. The total number of residential families with arrearages totals about 76,000 accounts.

Michigan
Utilities serving 5.7 million customers reported that 1.3 million of its customers have generated arrearages totaling almost $98 million.

Minnesota
Arrearages for electric and natural gas total approximately $71.6 million. The average residential arrearage increased from $168 last year to $267 during the current year. As many as 100,000 families currently are past due on their accounts and could be disconnected after April 15th and the expiration of the Cold Weather Rule.

Mississippi
Entergy Mississippi residential arrearages are projected to increase by 36% from $5.6 million to $7.6 million.

Missouri
The state's two largest natural gas companies have had a self-imposed moratorium on shut-offs that expired March 15th. The current arrearage amount is approximately $6.3 million and the estimated number of families to be shut-off within 30 days, if bills are not paid, is 13,091.

New Jersey
Public Service Electric and Gas, the state's largest utility, reported residential arrearages of $271 million, an increase of 14% over last year. Shut-off notices have been sent to 276,715 families, an increase of 6% over the same period last year.

Pennsylvania
Between 150,000 and 250,000 families in arrears and are expected to begin receiving shut-off notices.

South Carolina
Arrearages have increased by 30% from last year, totaling $13.5 million. Almost 37,000 families are facing shut-offs.

Texas
Entergy Texas has reported an increase of 41% in arrearages from $7.3 million to $10.3 million.

Virginia
Columbia Gas reports a $12 million arrearage this year as opposed to $2 million last year. Dominion Virginia Power, the largest electricity supplier, is reporting a 33% increase in arrears over last year. Approximately 20,000 customers will receive shut-off notices once the voluntary moratorium is lifted.

West Virginia
American Electric Power has reported that 55,000 of their 367,764 residential customers owe about $5.5 million in arrears. The average arrearage is $106. Shut-off notices are currently being mailed.

Wisconsin
Total electric and gas arrearages increased by almost 38%, from $71.0 million to $97.7 million. The average amount in arrears increased by about 23%, from $206 to $167, while the number of households in arrears increased by almost 12 percent, from 424,607 customers to 473,989 customers.

SURVEYS
Date: May 14, 2001
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