Nearly 100 people in Wellington were left in the dark Thursday. On Friday, Wellington City Manager Gus Collins shed some light on the situation.
"We disconnect for non-payment and people that have not called or set up a payment plan," Collins said. "We disconnect once a month, Yesterday [Thursday] was the day to do that." KWCH Channel 12 out of Wichita reported 96 homes were disconnected from power in the blistering August heat. By 5 p.m. Thursday a third were reconnected.
Collins said "It was a normal process" in the city's collection of outstanding utility bills. The city manager said the customers who lost power had plenty of warning for Thursday's disconnect.
"We notify the customer, give them every opportunity to either pay or make arrangements...," Collins explained. "We err on the side of the costumer every time but in this particular case we had some customers that were disconnected." In the winter in Kansas, there's a "Cold Weather Rule."
This prevents utility providers from turing off power should the temperature drop too low. There is no rule for the opposite end of the thermometer during these summer months.
"We do not have a policy, probably ultimately it's my decision weather to delay or anything like that," Collins added. "It wasn't even discussed, we give every opportunity....if they call, we're going to make arrangements..." City of Wellington utilities customers are contacted twice, both by mail. Once with the bill and then they get a reminder notice which states how much time they have to pay. The notice also tells them who to contact to make arrangements.
Collins said a heat moratorium could be looked into in the future.
"It is a huge undertaking especially to disconnect 90, then obviously to reconnect 90 customers and so we prefer not to do any." Collins said this months number of 96 customers being disconnected was "about average."
"That happens every month," Collins stated.
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Nearly 100 people in Wellington were left in the dark Thursday. On Friday, Wellington City Manager Gus Collins shed some light on the situation.
"We disconnect for non-payment and people that have not called or set up a payment plan," Collins said. "We disconnect once a month, Yesterday [Thursday] was the day to do that." KWCH Channel 12 out of Wichita reported 96 homes were disconnected from power in the blistering August heat. By 5 p.m. Thursday a third were reconnected.
Collins said "It was a normal process" in the city's collection of outstanding utility bills. The city manager said the customers who lost power had plenty of warning for Thursday's disconnect.
"We notify the customer, give them every opportunity to either pay or make arrangements...," Collins explained. "We err on the side of the costumer every time but in this particular case we had some customers that were disconnected." In the winter in Kansas, there's a "Cold Weather Rule."
This prevents utility providers from turing off power should the temperature drop too low. There is no rule for the opposite end of the thermometer during these summer months.
"We do not have a policy, probably ultimately it's my decision weather to delay or anything like that," Collins added. "It wasn't even discussed, we give every opportunity....if they call, we're going to make arrangements..." City of Wellington utilities customers are contacted twice, both by mail. Once with the bill and then they get a reminder notice which states how much time they have to pay. The notice also tells them who to contact to make arrangements.
Collins said a heat moratorium could be looked into in the future.
"It is a huge undertaking especially to disconnect 90, then obviously to reconnect 90 customers and so we prefer not to do any." Collins said this months number of 96 customers being disconnected was "about average."
"That happens every month," Collins stated.
