To shield San Franciscans from having their lights and water turned off during these worrisome times, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) won’t cut-off power and water services due to non-payment. Also, both SFPUC and SF Muni will waive late fees on overdue payments.
As we embrace social distancing recommendations, it’s moderately reassuring to know that, no matter the financial predicament, we’ll all have our electricity and plumbing conveniences guaranteed for a good while.
Full announcement: https://t.co/1x2B3t4W3F
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) March 14, 2020
NBC Bay Area reported that the City of San Francisco will keep everyone’s water and power in good standing for the next two months. Better yet, late fees accrued on water and sewer bills will be waived for both residents and SFPUC Hetch Hetchy power account holders. The same courtesy will be extended to San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) citations, as well.
“San Francisco will not be shut off due to delinquent payments and penalties will be waived for late payments to SF Muni or the public utilities commission,” Mayor London Breed said yesterday, per the local news outlet. "We are continuing to implement policies to protect our residents who are struggling due to loss of income during this challenging public health crisis.”
SFMTA, as stated earlier, is suspending all late fees on citations and delinquent payments; the transportation agency will also extend deadlines for citation objections and stop forwarding additional unpaid citations to the California Department of Motor Vehicles or collection agencies.
"Our agency is committed to doing our part in providing [much-needed] relief for San Franciscans impacted by the COVID-19 emergency," said Jeffrey Tumlin, SFMTA Director of Transportation. "We know that penalties in difficult times are a burden, and we're also sensitive to the need to limit in-person transactions."
In a similar tone, CalMatters noted that six other state utility providers — including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which is the nation’s largest utility provider — have taken like-minded action, safeguarding some 21M Californians from abrupt power and water shutoffs as coronavirus concerns heap.
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