PALMETTO, Ga. — The City of Palmetto is making changes after disconnecting electricity to some families one day before a heat advisory threatens the county.
“It’s completely unacceptable,” Palmetto resident Tyler May said.
May is one of the customers whose utilities were shut off Monday afternoon.
“My aunt has cancer, and we have no power. There’s people on oxygen that need power,” May said.
Channel 2 Action News reached out to city leaders.
Mayor Teresa Thomas-Smith said utility bills are due on the 15th of each month, with a cut-off date of the 22nd of each month. She said Palmetto has been upgrading the city’s billing software over the last year, and should go online in August.
However, she said issues have been resolved for the most part.
So, on Saturday, the city issued notices online that warned customers to pay their utility by Monday at 8 a.m. or risk disconnection.
A city social media post read: “Please remember this is not a new policy, it has been in place in Palmetto for many years and the language is on the back page of every bill that is mailed to customers. Palmetto simply wanted to post a reminder. Utility Customers are subject to termination of services each month when utility bills are not paid.”
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Due to an influx of payments at the overnight drop-off box and customers in line at City Hall on Monday, Palmetto extended the deadline until 1:30 p.m. on Monday.
By 5 p.m., staff said 180 customers had unresolved bills, and the majority of those involved electricity payments.
Channel 2 Action News checked the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, Georgia Public Service Commission, and state law. All three agencies have policies that prohibit electric providers from disconnecting service if a heat advisory is in the forecast.
The National Weather Service forecasted a heat advisory at 12:58 p.m. Monday. The heat advisory takes effect at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
Thomas-Smith started checking, opened a cooling center at Palmetto Fire Headquarters on Main Street and issued an update.
“We understand an advisory was issued today at 1 p.m., which was after our 8 a.m. cut-off on time. In accordance with the advisory, we do assure any resident who was disconnected today, in accordance with the heat advisory, will have their power restored tomorrow at 1 p.m., as the advisory goes in effect at 1 p.m.”
The mayor said that when the heat advisory lifts, disconnections will resume.
She said utility billing and customer service staff and the electric superintendent stayed late Monday to help residents who made it to City Hall before closing time on Monday.
She said everyone who stayed was able to have any issues with billing resolved, pay, and have service restored at the same time.
“We are a very caring and compassionate city, and we understand,” Thomas-Smith said. “However, we have to make sure we are doing the best for all residents and not just the few.”
She said staff did not have a final count of the number of customers without electricity at the time.
Families whose electricity is still off said they will be at City Hall on Tuesday to try to work out their billing discrepancies.
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