Richard Froese
South Peace News

Big Lakes County is giving residents a break on late payments for utility bills during disruption of Canada Post service during a labour strike.

At its regular meeting Dec 11, council agreed to waive utility accounts penalties for the billing cycle of November and December which will be applied on Jan. 16, 2025.

Council passed a second recommendation that the County not shut off connections for delinquent renter utility accounts during November and December.

Postal service has been disrupted since Nov. 15 when members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) at Canada Post offices across Canada went on strike.

Due to the ongoing Canada Post strike, County administration requested council approve the recommendations, said Joe Zdeb, director of corporate services.

“The November and December bills will also not be able to be sent out by mail and administrations is requesting bills will also not be able to be sent by mail.

“With limitations for mailing utility bills and arrears letters, many account holders will not receive printed notice of their utility bill or their current standing on arrears.”

Administration has been busy notifying account holders to register for e-billing through social media and the County website and providing account balances at the counter and over the phone, he notes.

Utility bills and arrears letters may be made available to pick at the county office.

“Based on the average billing cycle, about 360 customers will receive a two per cent penalty for late charges,” Zdeb says.

“The average penalty is about $3.05 per account, totalling about $1,100.”

Those numbers may differ for the November and December billing cycle as they are not known until after the meters are read and recorded, he noted.