The City of Wrangell will not turn off the lights on any of its electricity customers at this time. The city decided yesterday to suspend all utility disconnects and late fees for two months.
City Manager Lisa Von Bargen says this move is meant to ease the burden on those who are financially impacted by the spread of coronavirus.
“Many employees are being laid off or don’t know if they’re going to be laid off, given what’s going on in a variety of different industries,” Von Bargen says. “So we want to make sure those folks don’t have the added stress of worrying about having their utilities shut off, because they may not have the ability to pay right away because they don’t know when their next paycheck is going to happen.”
State and city health mandates and recommendations have near shuttered bars and restaurants, leaving workers high and dry. Other businesses are seeing less traffic. And many workers have to stay at home with children due to school being out.
And most workers do live paycheck to paycheck.
Still, the city is not giving out free electricity. Customers will have to pay any unpaid bills eventually. So, word to the wise, consider taking up this offer only if you desperately need it.
This went into effect immediately. Payments were due today.
