Residents struggle with power bills

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

David Payne and Robert Montgomery are among the hundreds of Wythe County residents living on fixed incomes. They can only stretch their limited funds so far to cover basic necessities which they see increasing at an alarming rate – especially costs of electricity.
“My bill for December and January was $278,” noted Payne, a Max Meadows resident living on $219 a week in unemployment benefits. “I got a termination notice and had to pay $154.16 to keep my lights on.”
Montgomery, who resides with his family in a single-wide mobile home in Rural Retreat, reported his January electric bill as $348.99. His December 2009 bill was $179.
“It’s either pay the electric bill or put food on the table,” said Montgomery, who works in Atkins. “For me, that’s a whole week’s paycheck.”
According to the 50-year-old Payne, he was denied assistance from local agencies because his income was based on what he made when he worked as a truck driver for Adams Construction Co. in Roanoke. His job ended last November when he was diagnosed with emphysema and required to be on oxygen all night and part of the day.
“Everything goes up but our paychecks stay the same,” Payne said. “I try to stay where I need to stay but with the cost of everything going up I can’t do it. I have a feeling things are going to get worse.”
Dee Dee Hoosier, director of the Bland Ministry Center, is seeing increases each month in requests for assistance on electric bills. One from a Tazewell County resident, she said, was for a bill of $800.
“We get at least five requests a day for assistance,” Hoosier reported. “We were really hard hit the first of January. The bill amounts are outrageous.”
She pointed out the center has a usual limit of $100 to $150 for payment on electric bills. A person’s circumstance, Hoosier said, is considered in each case.
“The lady in Tazewell had been receiving unemployment benefits,” Hoosier pointed out. “They had run out and she had to reapply. She had not gotten a check for three weeks.”
Hoosier also noted anyone seeking assistance from the ministry center must apply in person. All intake applications, she stated, must be done at the center’s office.
Appalachian Power Co. spokesman John Shepelwich pointed out that December 2009 electric bills reflected an unusually cold month and a 15 percent interim rate charge and a new surcharge for kilowatt hours. He also noted the bills included a longer meter reading period because of the holidays.
“December was a much colder month than November,” Shepelwich said.
According to him, few electric bills were estimated for the month and those that were are marked with an “e” by the kilowatt reading. Meter readers, he said, were reassigned to Southwest Virginia because of the big snow.
Shepelwich reported a new enhanced payment plan is available for customers with particularly large electric bills. They should call the customer solution center at 1-800-956-4237, according to him.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).