Resident tells power board she was removed from budget billing after missing a payment during cancer recovery

A resident identified as Kaylin addressed the Power Board during the June 3 meeting to report she had been removed from the city’s equal‑payment (budget billing) program after missing one scheduled payment while recovering from ovarian cancer.

Kaylin said she spent six months recovering at Red Cliffs Health and Rehab after surgery and that a friend who usually brought her mail was unavailable when the missed payment occurred. She said the utility then removed her from the equal‑payment plan and that staff told her she could not be reenrolled for 12 months.

Board members and staff responses Board members and staff who heard the comment said the billing and equal‑payment program are handled by the utilities billing team and that they would follow up. A board member said Jeremy Redd (city staff) had been contacted and would look into possible remedies; two board members volunteered to follow up with Jeremy and the resident to see whether the billing department could reexamine the case.

Why it matters: Equal‑payment programs are used to levelize customers’ bills across the year. The resident described the removal as creating a hardship during a period of medical recovery, and the board asked staff to investigate whether the utility’s application of the program policy could be revisited in her case.

Ending: Staff and board members said they would follow up with the resident and utilities billing staff and report back to the board.