Sorting through electricity deposit charges

A Valley woman said she already gave her power company a deposit, but now, the company wants a second deposit, so she contacted 3 On Your Side for help.

The initial deposit was to turn her power on. The amount of that deposit was $275, but now, SRP says it wants another $275, money that Amey Wheeler said she can't come up with.

Wheeler is a single mom struggling to make ends meet and although she always pays her bills on time, sometimes her budget is a little tight.

"Bills come first unfortunately,” Wheeler said. “Especially necessities like rent, electricity. They are necessary to live so you have to pay those first."

When it comes to her electric bill, Wheeler admits she was 15 days late paying SRP.

Wheeler said it was the first time she had ever late on her electric bill, but it was enough to prompt SRP to shut off her power.

"So I called SRP and said what happened? The electricity is off. They said you didn't pay your bill so they disconnected me."

Wheeler said she immediately paid the bill in full, plus all of the penalties and fees that went along with getting the power turned back on.

Although SRP already had a $275 deposit just in case she failed to pay at all, she says SRP is now demanding another $275 deposit.

"They say that's their policy,” she said. “It's included in the disconnection notice."

SRP looked into the issue for 3 On Your Side and agreed to waive that second $275 deposit meaning Wheeler won't have to come up with that extra money after all.

That's good news for Wheeler, who says she's stretching every dollar and realizes how important it is to keep her power turned on.

"I stay fairly current with them because they are utility bills,” she said. “They are not something you can play around with."

First of all, Wheeler ran into this problem by thinking she could pay half of her power bill one week and then pay the second half before the due date passed.

Essentially she was splitting her bill into two payments and you just can't do that. Second, thanks to SRP for waiving that second deposit because they didn't have to, but they did.

And third, SRP has a lot of great information about programs and tips in paying your power bill, just visit www.savewithsrp.com.