By David Haerle
The Daily World
The Grays Harbor PUD now has a cool half million dollars to dole out to customers who have been and will be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in past and coming months.
Following an agreement with Grays Harbor County, the PUD will begin using CARES Act dollars to aid customers impacted by the pandemic, but there’s a small hitch. The pot of up to $500,000 is only available for a little more than a month. Due to federal guidelines, the CARES Act funding can only be used until the end of November, leaving customers just over one month to submit their applications, which are being accepted until Nov. 25.
Application forms are available online and at the PUD drive-up window.
How much money a particular customer receives will be judged on a case-by-case basis, according to Katie Moore, who heads up the PUD’s customer service department. For that reason, she encourages customers to apply as soon as possible, so their individual needs might be met.
“We’re going to see the need they have,” said Moore. “Maybe they are up-to-date on their PUD bills, but are behind on other bills, or their income has been reduced and they are struggling. There are areas to explain your situation on the application.”
Moore encourages people to apply soon so PUD customers can take full advantage of this temporary fund.
“If we use all of that $500,000 that would be great, because it means we are helping many of our customers,” she said. “”There’s a real sense of urgency, because we have to use this money by the end of November, because after that it goes away.”
Ian Cope, the PUD’s director of communications, emphasized that this assistance is open to anyone whose income has been affected by the pandemic, not just low-income customers or those behind on their PUD bills, but those people are also eligible if they fill out the two-page application.
Cope also noted that Gov. Inslee recently extended the moratorium of power cut-offs by public utility districts until the end of the year, but many GHPUD customers have large overdue balances due to the ongoing pandemic, and those bills will eventually come due. He said this program is a good way for customers in arrears to get some aid.
“With winter months coming, we’re going to see these balances get even higher for some people,” said Cope. “This program can help a lot of our customers, but they need to apply as soon as possible and then reach out to us about their issues so we can help.”
The agreement, approved by the Board of County Commissioners and the Board of PUD Commissioners earlier this week, will allow the PUD to apply the federal aid money to customer accounts. Customers who receive financial assistance will have it applied as a credit to their accounts.
To apply, customers must fill out the proper application, which lists COVID-related hardships that have impacted their household. Those hardships include: increased household expenses related to COVID-19, loss of income related to COVID-19 and other financial hardships directly related to COVID-19.
For more information, customers may contact the PUD Customer Service Office at 360-532-4220.
