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<br />RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES <br />Board Memorandum <br /> <br />BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: APRIL 12, 2021 <br />REPORT <br />SHARE and ERAP Program Participation <br />July 2020 through February 2021 <br />SHARE Program <br />The SHARE program provided assistance to over 4,000 electric customers and over 1,300 water <br />customers for fiscal-year 19/20. <br />Effective July 22, 2020, qualified customers can receive $15.00 per month for their electric bill and <br />$2.75 for their water bill. The SHARE program maintained the once-annual $150 assistance to <br />customers, but has limited it to either deposit assistance or emergency assistance for customers that <br />receive a disconnection notice but are unable to pay. <br />Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the delinquency process was put on hold until further notice. Effective, <br />July 16, 2020 the SHARE program guidelines were updated to allow an urgent notice to qualify <br />customers for the $150 emergency assistance. Once the COVID-19 state emergency ceases to exist, <br />we will revert back to our current program guidelines upon management approval. <br /> <br />Over the second year of the enhanced program, the total number of customers approved for SHARE <br />assistance was 4,084. This represented a year-over-year decrease of 2% when compared to 4,175 <br />customers served between July 2018 and June 2019. Participation continues to trend similar to prior <br />years despite increasing outreach. The number of customers served July 2020 through January 2021 <br />is 1,820, a 41% decrease from the previous year. Staff understands that this is due to the current <br />economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the halt of the delinquency process. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />