More than a thousand Philadelphia residents could be without electricity to power air conditioners and fans during a dangerously hot weekend — despite the pause on utility shutoffs.
During a heat health emergency, like the one the city of Philadelphia declared this week, PECO can’t disconnect residents’ electricity service. But the utility does not automatically restore service to people whose electricity was already shut off when the emergency began.
A total of 1,290 PECO customers’ accounts were shut off for nonpayment as of Friday morning, according to PECO spokesperson Tom Brubaker.
“Disconnecting service is always a last resort, that’s why it’s important that customers take action and contact PECO to set up payment arrangement plans and take advantage of customer assistance programs,” Brubaker said in an emailed statement.