Managing Termination Notices
Managing Termination Notices
Energy costs continue to climb and our needs remain the same: keeping the lights on and maintaining comfortable, safe temperatures in our homes. One in five Central Hudson households find themselves carrying past due balances across months and the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. When a household reaches 60+ days with a consistent past due balance, they receive a termination notice.
Receiving a termination notice is a stressful, difficult situation to navigate and it’s hard to know what the options are, especially under trying circumstances. So here is our guide to responding to termination notices. Options are limited but, still, most families aren’t aware of what their options are.
What is a Termination Notice?
A final termination notice, identified by FINAL TERMINATION NOTICE at the top of the letter, with your account number and customer number in the top right of the page, comes with the total amount due to Central Hudson and a ‘termination date’. It is important to note that the termination date is the beginning of a window for service termination. If a household does not pay their due balance, or enter into a payment agreement, the date on the notice is the first day that service might be terminated.
Along with a final termination notice, a household receives a “Deferred Payment Agreement.” If you have received a termination notice, but not an offer for a payment agreement, check your Central Hudson online portal or call Central Hudson to receive one.
This is important. You do not need to accept the first offer for payment agreement terms that Central Hudson sends you.
The standard offer is 30% of the existing balance up front. That means if you owe $1,000 total, the initial down payment to get onto the Deferred Payment Agreement is $300. The following monthly payments will be either one-sixth of your outstanding balance ($700/6= $116.66) or the cost of your average monthly usage. Whichever is higher.
Most people do not know that you can negotiate these costs.
Hardship Deferred Payment Agreements
First, if a household is on an assistance program or struggling financially, they might be eligible for a “Hardship Deferred Payment Agreement.” This agreement, as opposed to the default, requires $0 down payment and monthly payments of $10. Since monthly payments are in addition to a household’s regular bills, this is the ideal agreement. Otherwise, potentially hundreds will be added to the normal bills going forward.
If a household is not eligible for a hardship agreement, there is still room to negotiate. Central Hudson wants to collect payment on their service and if you communicate your difficulty with payment to the Central Hudson representative, there is a chance the initial down payment is lowered.
Still, it is likely that the down payment is too high, especially if a household has received a termination notice. There are a few places you can go for help paying the down payment.
DSS Programs
The Department of Social Services can help you apply to the following programs and services:
One of those places is the Department of Social Services to apply for a Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) payment. You can also learn more here. Unfortunately, this is only a possibility when HEAP is open – generally December through April. If a household is facing a termination letter, applying for Emergency HEAP will stall service termination and serves as eligibility for a Hardship Deferred Payment Agreement.
In addition, successful acceptance into HEAP will automatically enroll your home in Central Hudson’s Energy Affordability Program (EAP) which lowers monthly bills every month by around $30 to $100 depending on the amount paid to the account by HEAP. The term of EAP participation is 18 months and it is one of the surest ways to lower monthly bills.
HEAP is not available for half of the year, but termination notices are year round. Another pathway to some kind of relief is through Emergency Assistance. The turnaround for approval should be within 24 hours. If a home’s utilities are shut off, about to be shut off, or the home has received a 72-hour disconnect notice, they are eligible for Emergency Assistance. Benefits can be used directly for utility debt.
A less immediate option for assistance is Temporary Assistance which provides cash assistance to either families with Family Assistance or to individuals with Safety Net Assistance.
Other Sources of Assistance
As a last resort, after Department of Social Services options have been exhausted, here are a few other sources of assistance to explore:
If a household has 1. Received a termination notice, 2. Previously defaulted on a $10 Hardship Payment Agreement, 3. Completed a financial statement with Central Hudson in the last thirty days, 4. Applied for, and been denied assistance from the Department of Social Services and HEAP, and 5. Not receiving three Good Neighbor Fund grants within the past five years, that household is eligible for a Central Hudson Good Neighbor Fund payment.
Outside of utility and federal programs, there are community based organizations that also provide resources for homes that have received termination notices. Family of Woodstock has multiple locations throughout Central Hudson’s service territory. If a home is in need of extra assistance, especially with navigating a hard to understand system, they might consider reaching out to Family of Woodstock which provides assistance with responding to termination notices and administers United Way of Ulster County grants that can be used for Deferred Payment Agreement down payments. United Way also serves the Dutchess and Orange regions. Catholic Charities also provides utility assistance.
Special Protections
There are also situations that can exempt a household from termination of service. Meaning, if someone in a household is elderly, blind, disabled, on life support equipment or has medical emergencies, and there is anyone in the home receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits or payments from the state, the household may apply for special protections from Central Hudson. These include not shutting off service during a medical emergency situation.
If someone in the home relies on life-sustaining equipment, the home may also qualify for special protections from service termination through Central Hudson’s Life Support Equipment Program.
Opening a Case with the Public Service Commission
If all else fails, and a household feels they are not being treated fairly according to the rules, they can file a complaint with the Public Service Commission (PSC). This is the regulatory body responsible for regulating New York’s investor-owned utilities and this step is essentially to appeal to a higher power when a household feels the utility has transgressed against them.
Before contacting the PSC, or filing a complaint, a household should make a list of every strategy they have used to either address the large down payment they need or simply to return service to their home. It is very important that all other options have been exhausted before taking this step.
Defaulting on Deferred Payment Agreements
Failure to make payments on a Hardship Deferred Payment Agreement will, first, return the threat of service shut off, and two, prevent the creation of a new Hardship Deferred Payment Agreement. As a reminder, the hardship option includes a zero dollar down payment and ten dollar monthly payments. If a household defaults on their Hardship Agreement, their only option to get service returned, or to avoid shut off, is to enter a standard Deferred Payment Agreement, which will include a down payment likely in the hundreds of dollars and much higher monthly payments.
Questions? We're here to help!
If you still have questions or want help navigating a termination notice, schedule a time to talk using the calendar below, call us at 845-383-1050, or visit the office at 190 Fair Street, Kingston, New York 12401.
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