COVID-19 Update

NC Executive Order No. 124 - Extended 60 Days

North Carolina is beginning its transition to reopen our economy. PWC, being a utility, and part of the area’s vital infrastructure, never closed our doors. Our employees were working to keep your water, wastewater and electric services available during this trying time. My thanks to them for keeping the lights on and the water flowing.

Thanks also go to you, our customers. Your efforts to help stop the spread of this virus, has helped our state to begin opening things up ahead of many others.

During these unprecedented times, PWC lowered electric rates 4.7% as of May 1 and delayed a scheduled water rate increase. As you may know, the state has issued executive orders during COVID-19 to give utility customers certain protections during the economic uncertainty. It has allowed residential customers, if needed, to not pay their utility bills in full without fear of having services turned off for missing a payment. This has given all utility customers, including PWC’s, much needed flexibility when we were unclear what the impact the virus would have or how state or federal government might provide economic relief to its citizens. As you may know, two weeks before the order, on March 16, PWC had already stopped cutoffs for past due bills. On May 30^th, the protections of the Executive Order were extended.

If you have not been able to pay your PWC bill in full, what happens next?

We want to help customers manage overdue balances. If you are unable to pay your PWC bill in full, we encourage customers, who are able, to make partial payments on their account so that the total amount due is manageable once the Governor’s Executive Order expires and you enter into a payment arrangement with PWC.
As we move into our hot summer weather, we encourage customers to take advantage of savings through managing electric use during on and off-peak hours so that you can get the greatest savings from electric Time of Use rates. You can also get bill credits and significant long-term savings through PWC Customer Incentive Programs for Energy Star and Water Sense products, as well as many conservation resources and tips, all available through the PWC website.

Lastly, I again want to thank our customers for how you’ve helped our community and thank you in advance for staying diligent in the coming weeks as we all work together to get through these trying times.

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