Westario Powers' disconnect policy was front and centre at Hanover Council Monday night.
President and CEO Lisa Milne was on hand offering information about the power company, with council focusing on the much discussed disconnections in Grey/Bruce.
Milne says a response will be made in the coming weeks.
"We met as a board in June to discuss the disconnection policy and as (we) indicated at the time we will be sending correspondence to shareholders and that information will be forthcoming."
The scrutiny over how the company handles outstanding bills came this spring after reports of many customers in Grey/Bruce being disconnected during the winter. United Way Executive Director Francesca Dobbyn spoke to Brockton Council in May and asked for compassion from Westario when low income customers are struggling.
“They could be more generous with time and understanding our clients, we’re not asking for a blanket no-disconnect policy like Hydro One or Union Gas has,” Dobbyn told CKNX News. “What we’re looking for is when we have a client and they are deemed to low income, we get more time, more compassion, and more room to negotiate.”
Milne says in 99 per-cent of cases power has not been disconnected for customers and it only comes to that as a last resort. She has added that many of the disconnected sites were vacant by the time Westario power cut off service and the other cases were resolved quickly.
At Hanover Council, Milne said the importance in getting bills paid on time comes from a number of charges that each customer pays for, Westario only gets around 14% from a bill. The rest goes to taxes and other mandatory payments.
"I think we have an opportunity that we could better educate the public about our industry as a whole," Milne said. "Moving forward to better educate our customers on what we do as a company and how our invoices are calculated."
She added that there are a variety of options for customers who are having trouble paying and they can contact the company for more information. Customers can also contact the United Way of Bruce Grey toll free at 1 (800) 794-1728.
