Albany Utility extends hours for last two days of power rebate applications

ALBANY — The hours of operation at the Albany Utilities building at 207 Pine Ave. will be extended Thursday and Friday for power customers who need to apply for the storm assistance credit, according to officials.

After a large number of residents expressed concern about January electricity bills, which city utilities officials said were estimated because of storm damage, Albany City Manager Sharon Subadan announced last week that the utility, as a gesture of good will, would extend a one-time $50 storm assistance credit to customers who were without power for three or more days after the storms of Jan. 2 and 21-22.

More than 3,000 customers had applied as of Wednesday, Subadan said.

“We know there were people who were affected by the storm, and we can’t make it right for everybody,” Subadan said during an interview with The Albany Herald last week. “But what we do want to do is issue a negative $50 on people’s bill, if they apply for it. If they were out of power for three or more days, they come to the utility — and we will probably figure out a way to put this online as well — and all they have to do is demonstrate that they were in a storm-affected area and that their power was out for three or more days.”

According to Subadan, after the utility received a large number of calls from residents complaining that they could not come by during normal business hours to apply, a decision was made to extend hours of operation to accommodate those customers.

“We have been getting feedback from individuals who work during the hours that we’re open,” Subadan said. “They were concerned that they would not be able to apply (for the credit), so, we made arrangements to open early and stay open late so that they would have that opportunity.”

On Thursday and Friday, Albany Utilities will be open 8 a.m.-7 p.m. The deadline to apply for the storm assistance credit is 7 p.m. Friday.

Applications for the credit are available on the city’s website, www.albany.ga.us, for customers to print and fill out. All applicants must provide proper identification and be the account holder to apply. Customers cannot apply by phone. Anyone who is physically disabled and unable to come by the office, however, can make arrangements to apply by calling (229) 883-8330.