Bangor Hydro Cutting Electric Service To Nearly 40% Of It's Customers (Augusta: foreclosures, mortgage)

[WILWRadio]

Your thoughts about this? And the impact on the Bangor area economy?

Bangor Hydro sends disconnect notices to nearly half its customers (http://bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=164067&zoneid=176 - broken link)

[corgis]

Cause they didn't pay their bills - service will be turned back on when the bill is paid. Nothing to think about there.

[Nor'Eastah]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

Your thoughts about this? And the impact on the Bangor area economy?

Why is this even an issue? You gotta pay the stupid electric bill! Otherwise, they shut it off! Don't need to be a brain surgeon....

[Bydand]

Don't pay your bill, why should the power company keep giving people a free ride? Pay or be disconnected, kind of simple really.

[Coaster]

Back up a second. Think about the fact that almost HALF of Bangor Hydro's customers are so far behind that they are receiving disconnect notices. That's an astonishing figure, and the article states it's only the worst of a steadily rising number over recent years. Why would someone ignore a bill as basic as electricity? Because other costs have risen in households that were already living on the edge. A 200-gallon fuel oil fill-up now costs well over $800. Food prices are up 10-20 percent in the past year. Gasoline was under $3 a gallon only a year ago.

Costs of essentials are rising much faster than incomes are rising. And this is only the beginning.

What percentage of 46,000 households will not be able to catch up on their overdue light bill and will go dark instead, by choice or necessity? And what happens if things get worse?

[Maine Writer]

If you make and stick to your payment arrangements you keep your electricity. If you're careful with usage, which is easy this time of year, you should be able to find enough odd jobs to keep up with the bill.

WILWRADIO, what are your thoughts?

[WILWRadio]

It seems to me there is much more to this than meets the eye. I am not in Maine right now therefore I am not able to find out what the primary cause is for people losing their power. It does not appear to be a sub prime mortgage issue (spent too much on a mortgage) because I recently saw a report that indicates Maine is near the bottom of the list when it comes to foreclosures.

Could it be high credit card debt? Or is it the price of gas? The price of gas seems to be indicated by one person in that article as the sole reason they cannot pay their electric.

Have people been laid off from work? Is stagflation to blame? Or are people simply living beyond their means and don't know how to budget these days?

[mensaguy]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

Your thoughts about this? And the impact on the Bangor area economy?

Bangor Hydro sends disconnect notices to nearly half its customers (http://bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=164067&zoneid=176 - broken link)

My thoughts are that you should pay your bills. Why would there be any impact on the Bangor area economy when this is something that happens every year. It happens in many areas and is not unique to Maine.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by Coaster

Why would someone ignore a bill as basic as electricity?

Because they know how the system works and that power cannot be disconnected during winter unless OK'ed by PUC and how fast does ANY government agency in Augusta operate really. Even if there were a good cause for it to be disconnected, it is going to be most of the winter before it happens anyway. Plus the majority will set up a payment plan and nothing will happen anyway. The article said that if the customers had tried, or even sent in "something" toward the bill they work with them, and I have found this to be 100% accurate in the past for me personally.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by mensaguy

My thoughts are that you should pay your bills. Why would there be any impact on the Bangor area economy when this is something that happens every year. It happens in many areas and is not unique to Maine.

Well, if they cannot afford to pay a vital service like electric then obviously they must not have any disposable income to spend in area businesses. I think most people realize there are people that simply are lazy and don't like to pay their phone or utility bills. But 40% of a single company's customers? I've never heard of that many customers from a single utility not able to pay their bill. There has to be a reason for this...