Pacific Power accused of billing McKinney Fire victims

SISKIYOU COUNTY, CA.– Just over a month ago, the McKinney Fire in Siskiyou county erupted, killing 4 people and destroying or damaging hundreds of homes.

Now, residents who lost everything in the fire, including their homes, said they’re getting hit by power bills from Pacific Power.

Pacific Power is already accused of causing the fire, in a lawsuit.

But the official cause is still under investigation.

According to KTVU in the Bay Area, a California lawyer says at least 300 victims of the fire got power bills.

PacifiCorp, Pac Power’s parent company responded by saying:

“We’re working to help customers affected by fires get back on their feet. Residents now have access to billing and payment relief in a variety of forms.”

But according to KTVU, the power company did not include any mention of forgiving bills that aren’t paid.

We reached out to Pacific Power today for more information.

PacifiCorp sent NBC5 a statement regarding the billing of McKinney Fire victims.

The statement reads:

Pacific Power is providing customers impacted by the fire billing and payment relief in a variety of forms. This is a challenging time for many of our Siskiyou County customers and we’re working to help through this difficult period.

We will continue to identify impacted customers, who will automatically have the following relief applied to their accounts:

·       Removed charges for the time that the residence or business was unoccupied as a result of the emergency;

·       Discontinued billing in the event that a customer’s residence or small business premises becomes unserviceable; 

·       Stopped billing to residences and businesses that were damaged or destroyed by the fire;

·       Notified customers of payment plan options, and suspended disconnection for nonpayment and associated fees;

·       Waived deposit requirements for affected customers seeking to reestablish service for one year. We are also expediting move in and move out service requests; 

For the most up to date information, or to access additional assistance, we encourage customers to reach out to our customer care team.