Small businesses report disconnection notices from Hydro Ottawa amidst COVID-19 economic uncertainty

The challenges continue to pile up for small businesses as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the latest being possible power disconnections from Hydro Ottawa. 

According to some business owners, they have received disconnection notices from the electricity provider.

Chief Customer Officer at Hydro Ottawa Julie Lupinacci confirmed the reports Thursday to 1310 NEWS, adding that while it is true, the disconnection notices are the very last resort for Hydro Ottawa.

“We understand the last few months have been more difficult for some than others and we’re working with all those customers that are contacting us to be able to align them with various financial support programs that are there,” she said. 

Hydro Ottawa had offered its customers a disconnection period moratorium, which was initially set to be lifted in May but was extended until July, Lupinacci explained.

At the end of June, Hydro Ottawa says they had started proactive outreach to all of their customers through phone calls, newsletters, messages through the website and their account letting them know that the disconnection period moratorium was being lifted and that they were actively looking for them to pay those bills. 

Before a disconnection notice is sent, Lupinacci explains that Hydro Ottawa would have tried to contact the customer at least three times through messages, calls, letters or by email.

“In most cases we were reaching out to customers three to five times to let them know,” she said. “This year, the province has released an additional financial support, especially there for customers that have gone through more (hardship). That was released for residential customers in July and for small commercial and charity customers at the end of August, and our team has proactively been reaching out to customers to see if they qualify for that.”

The assistance program is a one-time credit that was being provided by the province. There’s a number of criteria that customers must meet, which they can go on to HydroOttawa.com to see if they meet that criteria. 

For residential customers, they can qualify for up to $115 or $230 that can go against their bills, and for small businesses that can be up to $425 or $850, depending on their heat source.

“Additionally, going further than that — because we want to flexible — we’re making sure we have some flexible payment arrangements,” Lupinacci said. “We know that people are not going to necessarily be able to pay if they’ve been impacted by COVID if they can’t pay everything in one lump sum. We’re working with them this month to be able to come up with some flexible payments. “

The reason they do that, she adds, is because uncollected bills and bad debt “gets socialized” across all customers. As much as they’d like to be supportive and flexible, Hydro Ottawa also needs to be responsible and make sure that people aren’t having to pay some undo costs. 

“It doesn’t go away,” she said. “We’re encouraging all customers to call us. We’re open to work with everybody.”