How SC leaders plan to keep power on, water flowing during coronavirus outbreak
South Carolina’s water and electricity regulator says it wants to make sure South Carolinians are still able to have their services stay on as economic activity has slowed or in some cases put on hold during the outbreak of the coronavirus.
To help ease the pain of the economic slow down, the Public Service Commission last week formally directed last week all regulated utilities to suspend disconnection of service after Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency this month.
“I want to commend all utilities which have already informed the Commission, (Office of Regulatory Staff), customers, and the media of suspension of disconnection of services for nonpayment during the COVID-19 State of Emergency,” PSC Chairman Randy Randall said in a news release. “This current state of emergency is unprecedented, and we commend and appreciate all utilities, ORS, and customers in working through the issues presented daily.”
As of Tuesday, 342 people had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Carolina. The governor has asked people to work from home, allowed only take-out and delivery of food orders from bars and restaurants and given law enforcement more discretion to break up groups of three or more people if they pose a risk to public health.
Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Blue Granite Water Company and Santee Cooper also have suspended disconnections for nonpayment and late payments during the crisis. And the Berkeley Electric Cooperative’s board of trustees voted to give ratepayers back their security deposits through bill credits to help ease financial hardships.
“Electricity is a critical service,” said Mollie Gore, spokeswoman for Santee Cooper. “We’re not going to cut off a critical service during a pandemic.”
Gore said Santee Cooper also is encouraging customers to pay bills on time because a balance that builds up can be difficult to pay.
“If they have trouble, get in touch with us and let us help work out a plan,” Gore said.
This story has been updated to reflect the Tuesday’s total cases of the coronavirus in South Carolina.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 12:16 PM.
