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08-03-2022, 01:03 PM
By JASEN LO
yesterday
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Chris Kinney, a resident of Rapides Parish in central Louisiana, has seen his electricity disconnected eight times in the past two years for falling behind on his energy bills to Cleco Power.
His family did everything they could think of to catch up: pawning possessions, accumulating vast bank overdraft fees, borrowing money and applying for energy assistance.
Somehow, Kinney’s outstanding balance kept growing.
While his electrical charges added up to about US$6,400 for the past two years, Cleco Power also billed him over US$1,250 for being late on paying his bills, including late fees, reconnection charges and deposits.
“These charges keep piling up and there is no way to catch up. The financial strain was just insane,” Kinney said.
Americans paid a combined US$561 million in late payment fees to electrical utilities in 2019.
Many more details at: https://apnews.com/article/energy-late-f...3eee15f63d
yesterday
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Chris Kinney, a resident of Rapides Parish in central Louisiana, has seen his electricity disconnected eight times in the past two years for falling behind on his energy bills to Cleco Power.
His family did everything they could think of to catch up: pawning possessions, accumulating vast bank overdraft fees, borrowing money and applying for energy assistance.
Somehow, Kinney’s outstanding balance kept growing.
While his electrical charges added up to about US$6,400 for the past two years, Cleco Power also billed him over US$1,250 for being late on paying his bills, including late fees, reconnection charges and deposits.
“These charges keep piling up and there is no way to catch up. The financial strain was just insane,” Kinney said.
Americans paid a combined US$561 million in late payment fees to electrical utilities in 2019.
Many more details at: https://apnews.com/article/energy-late-f...3eee15f63d
