Unpaid power bills soared in 2020 to $8 billion in 13 US states, DC

摘要

Residents of 13 US states and Washington DC owed a combined nearly $8 billion in past-due power bills at the end of 2020, $3 billion more than a year earlier, according to a new report that underlines the economic hardship of the coronavirus pandemic in jurisdictions that together cover about one-third of the US population. The analysis, conducted by utility data and billing technology specialist Arcadia Inc. and released March 4, indicates that while the number of households in arrears on their electric bills has not increased, those customers are significantly deeper in debt than before the COVID-19 crisis. Based on bill data from 120,000 utility customer accounts managed by Arcadia, primarily in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, Maine and Massachusetts were the two hardest-hit states in terms of average past-due increases from 2019 to 2020, at 44% and 40%, respectively, the study showed. Outstanding payments for utility customers with accounts managed by Arcadia increased 39% in Colorado in 2020, 37% in Connecticut and Illinois, and 32% in New Jersey. By January 2021, a quarter of accounts managed by Arcadia were behind on their electricity bills, with an average past-due balance of $849.46, up from $509.81 in 2019 and $466.05 in 2018.