Late in paying your city gas bill? Long Beach will resume shutoffs Sept. 29
Residential gas accounts that owe at least $800 could lose service, but the city offers payment plans and discounts for those who qualify.
Before the end of this month, Long Beach will resume shutting off gas service to residents if they’re behind on their bills and owe at least $800.
The city paused utility shutoffs, late fees and debt collection in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began causing widespread economic havoc with business closures and job losses.
About a year ago, the Long Beach Utilities Department – the city provides gas, water, sewer and trash services – restarted shutoffs for delinquent residential water accounts, and commercial gas and water accounts that have large late balances began seeing their service cut off this March.
As of late August, commercial and residential accounts that were at least four months in arrears totaled more than $13.5 million for all four utilities, according to a city memo, which also notes that the amount is less than 4% of total annual revenue for the utilities.
The memo pointed to steps the city has taken to ease the burden on utility customers who may be facing financial struggles, including disbursing more than $4.2 million in state and federal relief funds, creating a city relief fund of $7.5 million, offering discounts and payment plans and increasing the threshold for gas and water service shutoff from $50 before the pandemic to $800 for residents and $200 for businesses.
Utility officials are also exploring when and how to resume charging late fees and attempting to collect on delinquent bills. Collections activities may start again this fall, and the city will consider when to resume late fees amid other projects that also will require significant public outreach, such as the citywide rollout of new organic waste bins and changes to the online utility payment portal, according to the memo.
The city will begin shutting off gas service Sept. 29 to residents who owe more than $800.
Read the full memo on utility shutoffs and late fees here, or visit the Long Beach Utilities website for information about billing or to request payment assistance.
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