As pandemic-cautious schools begin fall classes online, vulnerable families are grasping at the schools’ technology-dependent programming without safety nets that had barred utility shutoffs and landlord evictions.

Moratoriums that had guarded against families losing electricity or seeing belongings put on the curb have mostly expired.

A staff report to the Missouri Public Service Commission Aug. 3 reflected community concerns that a logjam of unpaid rent and utility bills has pitched Missouri and the nation onto “the precipice of a massive housing and homeless crisis.”

For information on utility bill assistance go to kclinc.org/utility-bills-assistance.

The report — which is part of a working case by the commission to examine best practices for collecting past due payments after the Covid-19 emergency — sought details from utility companies across Missouri on how they are managing the pandemic’s strain and how they are working with stressed customers.

The report also invited community agencies that advocate for consumers to share concerns and recommendations.

“As this crisis exposes cracks in our social and economic systems,” wrote a collection of agencies including the Kansas City Public Schools in a joint letter, “it is incumbent upon us to protect the most vulnerable populations while also advancing our vision for a healthy, safe future with access to clean water and energy for all.”

The vulnerability is rising. Evergy’s process for disconnecting electric service reopened July 16. The advocate group KC Tenants Aug. 1 disrupted Jackson County’s Housing Court in Kansas City to stop the eviction proceedings that had resumed there.

But the report to the commission showed mostly a brewing crisis that the utilities and the community relief efforts have worked to hold back — and they need help going forward.

A divided Congress as of Aug. 5 has been unable to agree on a new federal stimulus relief bill to replace the CARES Act. Meanwhile, relief measures for households have expired, including an extra $600 unemployment benefit for workers and paycheck protection plans for businesses, threatening to put more families in financial peril.

Among several recommendations in the report to the commission, community groups urged that moratoriums need to resume and remain in effect as long as the state is under an emergency declaration and for 60 more days once it is lifted.

Utility companies share their efforts

The original moratoriums against utility shutoffs, late fees and evictions launched in mid-March as the pandemic first gripped the nation.

The report to the commission shows the efforts Missouri utility companies have made to communicate with their customers and to try to boost relief funds for households in crisis. It also reflects a growing backlog of problems.

Even though more than 300,000 Missourians are now unemployed, the number of residential customers who made arrangements for special payment plans in April through May had declined this year compared to the same time in 2019. Evergy’s number of special payment plans was down more than 25%.

Many families may not have been motivated to arrange plans during the moratorium and others may have been buoyed by extra unemployment benefits and other CARES Act relief.

The number of requests for help from LIHEAP — the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program — after little change from a year ago in the spring, has begun to rise, said John Rich, executive director of the Mid America Assistance Coaltion in Kansas CIty. The number of applications rose 12% in July compared to a year ago.

“While it is a bit early to determine if this is a trend it is what we expect to see,” Rich said.

Evergy and other utilities reported extensive communication efforts, sharing options for relief. Discontinuance letters were replaced with letters advising that past due accounts would be subject to shutoff proceedings if a moratorium were not in place.

The utilities promoted plans where community members can contribute to relief funds to help customers who are struggling to pay utility bills. Evergy, for instance, established the Dollar-Aide relief fund, promoted “limited-time payment options,” and is issuing no late fees through the end of the year.

Utility companies listed various reasons for the timing of resuming shutoff procedures, the report said. The amount of past-due bills is the primary reason. Utilities reported they are also “taking into account industry practices and government guidelines and directives in making this decision.”

Community advocates call for action

The recommendations offered by Kansas City Public Schools and numerous co-signers included measures proposed by many respondents to the commission. The recommendations included:

• Extend the moratorium on utility disconnections until at least 60 days beyond the end of Missouri’s declared state of emergency that is currently in effect until Dec. 30.

• Provide reasonable and flexible repayment plans.

• Cease credit reporting on delinquent accounts to credit bureaus for up to six months following the end to the state of emergency declaration.

• No late fees or disconnection/reconnection fees.

• Focus energy efficiency programs on high-risk customers, helping vulnerable customers reduce costs of high energy bills.

• Promote relief funds that customers and the community can support to help pay bills for struggling customers.

Recommendations from advocate groups also call for data tracking that helps state regulators of utility companies monitor the effects of the utilities’ actions and the impact of protection and assistance programs.

The report to the commission notes that the National Consumer Law Center stresses that the monitoring data must be tracked by ZIP code to help watch for disparities in communities of color.

Communities of color are already suffering more deeply in the pandemic, note Kansas City Public Schools and co-signers in the Missouri advocates’ letter. Black people account for 34.5% of Covid-19 deaths in Missouri though they make up 11.8% of the population. Hispanic/Latinos account for 15% of Covid deaths but represent 4% of the population.

The other signers of the letter in addition to the school district are 350 STL, Bridging the Gap, Elevate Energy, Ethical Society of St. Louis, League of Women Voters of Metro St. Louis, Metropolitan Energy Center, Metro St. Louis Coalition for Inclusion and Equity, Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Missouri Interfaith Power and Light, National Housing Trust, Renew Missouri, Sierra Club and University United Methodist Church.

Next steps

The report to the commission establishes that legal and legislative precedent suggests that the commission has the power to adopt emergency rules. But the report is a step in the process of a “working case” that the commission launched in May.

The report notes that the process now directs the utilities to respond to the recommendations in the report, and the non-utility contributors whose submissions are part of the document are invited to also send responses, said Natelle Dietrich, the director of the Public Service Commission’s Industry Analysis Division.

Now, she said, it’s a matter of “wait-and-see on what the commission’s next step will be.”

By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer