Background
On March 12, 2020, account disconnections for nonpayment were suspended. Those customers who were disconnected at the time were reconnected.
As of March 23, 2020, new assessment of late fees associated with delinquent accounts were suspended.
- On March 31, the Governor of North Carolina issued Executive Order 124 (and then extended by Executive Order 142) stating that utilities across North Carolina were required to discontinue customer disconnections of service for non-payment to reduce hardships caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, the Executive Order called for the discontinuation of late fee charges on past due balances.
- Executive Order (124/142) expired on July 29, 2020.
Current Stage & Customer Assistance Plan
Charlotte Water is moving into the next stage of customer assistance by:
- Continuing the temporary practice of not disconnecting customers for delinquent account balances and not imposing later charges, and
- Automatically placing customers with past due balances as of September 30 on a 12-month, no interest payment arrangement, and
- Actively working with customers to address and resolve their past due balances in the coming months through payment arrangements and financial assistance.
Customers with past due balances should continue to make payments to avoid the accumulation of higher past due balances and future disconnection. As long as a customer is on a payment arrangement, the customer will not face a disconnection notice.
Charlotte Water has established the Customer Care Team, a dedicated group of trained customer service professionals to work with customers connecting them with community assistance agencies and working through financial hardships one-on-one.