On Tuesday, the Riverside City Council voted unanimously to require residential and commercial utility customers with large past-due balances to enroll in a bill repayment program which will allow them to pay their delinquent charges over an 18-month period.
In his presentation to the council, Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) general manager Todd Corbin explained that the Restart Utility Bill Repayment Program RPU customers will ask customers with unpaid bills to enter into a repayment agreement in which they pay a portion of their past-due bill. In an email, RPU customer engagement manager Ceri Dowsett stated that customers would be asked to make a “down payment” of 10 percent of their past-due balance when enrolling in the Restart program, then make regular payments on the delinquent amount while staying current on their monthly bill.
Customers who don’t abide by the terms of the agreement could have their electric and water services disconnected for non-payment. No Riverside utility customers have had service disconnected since March 2020, when the city placed a moratorium on shut-offs due to the economic distress related to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and restrictions.
