01-11-2021 BPU RPT 14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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W A T E R E N E R G Y L I F E PUB LIC LJ TILITI ES BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum DATE: January 11, 2021 GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT General Manager's Report on SHARE and ERAP Program Participation July 2020 through November 2020 SHARE Program The SHARE program provided assistance to over 4,000 electric customers and over 1,300 water customers for fiscal -year 19/20. Effective July 22, 2020, qualified customers can receive $15.00 per month for their electric bill and $2.75 for theirwater bill. The SHARE program maintained the once -annual $150 assistance to customers but has limited it to either deposit assistance or emergency assistance for customers that receive a disconnection notice but are unable to pay. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the delinquency process was put on hold until further notice. Effective, July 16, 2020 the SHARE program guidelines were updated to allow an urgent notice to qualify customers for the $150 emergency assistance. Once the COVID-19 state emergency ceases to exist, we will revert back to our current program guidelines upon management approval. Over the second year of the enhanced program, the total number of customers approved for SHARE assistance was 4,084. This represented a year -over -year decrease of 2% when compared to 4,175 customers served between July 2018 and June 2019. Participation continues to trend similar to prior years despite increasing outreach. The number of customers served July 2020 through November 2020 is 1,505, a 35% decrease from the previous year. Staff believes that this is due to the current economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the halt of the delinquency process. 700 L2 600 E 500 ,400 313 300 o 200 100 0 Customers Receiving SHARE Assistance by Month 619 Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec .ussto risers Served FY 19120 163 11 1-40 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun ■ Customers Served FY 20/21