ALAMEDA, CA —Alameda residents and businesses that fell behind on their power bills during the pandemic got a lifeline on Thursday when the state approved $650,000 to wipe out the debt for 1,200 customer accounts.

The California Department of Community Services and Development announced the first approvals of California Arrearage Payment Program applications, known as CAPP, and the release of funds for overdue customer energy bills incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state is using $1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the program.

In addition to AMP, the other two companies to receive money Thursday are Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

"This program is just one of the many ways the state has mobilized to assist Californians economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic," said CSD Director David Scribner. "These benefits will help pay down energy bills that increased to unprecedented levels during the pandemic, allowing customers burdened by past due balances to prioritize other critical financial needs."

AMP must apply bill credits to customer accounts within 60 days of receiving the money.

"As the state's economy continues to recover from the pandemic, it's critically important that we remain focused on helping those hit hardest," said California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. "This is another demonstration of our deep commitment to ensuring that all communities, especially the most vulnerable, will benefit from the state's investments in California's recovery."

To qualify for forgiveness, customer utility bills must be 60 days or more past due for energy use during the pandemic relief period from March 4, 2020 through June 15, 2021.

Active residential customers at risk of disconnection receive help first, followed by active residential customers with past due balances, then inactive residential customers with past due balances, and finally commercial customers with past due balances.

According to the state, AMP's $650,000 in CAPP funds will address 100 percent of Alameda's CAPP-qualified active and inactive residential customer accounts and 53 percent of eligible arrearages for all qualified commercial accounts. Rather than choosing some businesses to have all of their debt eliminated while others are untouched, the state anticipates that AMP will wipe out about half of each commercial customer's eligible debt.

To find out if your past-due bill will be forgiven, contact AMP.

Statewide, over 3 million customers accrued almost $2 billion in energy utility debt during the pandemic relief period.

AMP received the full amount of money that it requested.

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