State Programs to Assist Customers with Unpaid Utility Bills
Published: 11-1-2021
FOR MMEDIATE RELEASE:
Nov. 1, 2021
Contact:
Phil Pitchford
Public Information Officer
951-826-5975
State Programs to Assist Customers with Unpaid Utility Bills
Riverside Public Utilities will submit requests on behalf of qualifying customers
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A pair of new state programs are poised to help ratepayers with unpaid water, sewer, and electric bills. Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) will assist its customers by applying on their behalf and putting those credits toward unpaid RPU bills.
RPU customers do not have to take action on their own to apply for this new funding from the California Arrearage Payment Program (CAPP) for electric bills, or the California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program (CWWAPP) for water and sewer charges.
More information about the program can be found at: https://www.riversideca.gov/press/ca-assistance
Customers’ bills will be automatically credited based on the eligible amount owed and funding available from the state. Customers will be notified when their bills are credited.
The state programs are designed to help customers who were unable to pay their bills because of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. To qualify, customers must have incurred past-due bills that are more than 60 days behind during the period of March 4, 2020 to June 15, 2021.
The CAPP program requires the waiver of any late fees or interest associated with a customer’s electric bill that otherwise would have been charged. The state program first prioritizes funding for residential customers at risk of service disconnection, followed by all active residential customers, inactive residential customer accounts, and then commercial customers.
The CWWAPP program prioritizes the water part of a customer’s bill; wastewater charges may be covered if the state has sufficient funding.
Customers who receive assistance through these programs may still be eligible for other state and RPU programs for qualifying customers, including the state’s COVID-19 Rental Assistance program and/or the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), if they meet income eligibility requirements. The new Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) uses federal funds to help eligible low-income households by providing up to a $1,000 one-time benefit per household and is not limited to the COVID-19 time period. Go to csd.ca.gov or https://www.capriverside.org/ for more information.
For the latest information and resources regarding COVID-19 -- www.RiversideCA.gov/COVID-19
