After a long, cold winter, the provincially-mandated moratorium on disconnecting hydro service ended Tuesday.
Bluewater Power CEO Janice McMichael-Dennis says they've seen a significant increase in the number of customers falling into arrears between November 15 and April 30.
"We have seen that 120 day mark where people are four months overdue in their bills," says McMichael-Dennis. "It's gone up by about $100,000 over this period, so certainly we have experienced an increase in customers who have not managed to keep up during this period."
McMichael-Dennis says the average amount owed by utility customers is $350.
"Certainly for many people struggling, it's a hard number, but it's not a number that becomes completely unmanageable," she says. "We have the customer contact. We can work with these people."
McMichael-Dennis says Bluewater Power has never disconnected service during winter, but the six-month moratorium also prevented them from installing load limiting devices which they would normally do to help customers manage their overdue accounts.
She says customers who have fallen behind are encouraged to contact Bluewater Power to work out arrangements for payment.
The utility will also be reaching out to customers over the next two weeks.
Customers may also qualify for assistance programs like the Ontario Electricity Support Program, or the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program.