Minnesota Power launches bill relief program for past-due customers
Minnesota Power’s On Track program matches past-due payments dollar for dollar and gives qualifying customers bill discounts, with 3.1 million dollars set aside.
Minnesota Power has started On Track, a new bill-relief program for residential customers who are behind on their electric bills. On Track is built to give households a practical way to stay current, with matched payments and monthly discounts aimed at past-due accounts.
The program does not use income requirements, which widens the number of customers who may qualify. The goal is to make payment management less overwhelming and help customers avoid falling farther behind. Tina Koecher, Minnesota Power’s director of customer experience operations, estimated that 10 percent to 15 percent of residential customers have some kind of past-due balance at any given time, usually about 200 to 250 dollars. On Track is designed to attack that kind of debt by spreading the balance over several months and matching every payment dollar for dollar under a payment arrangement. For a customer with a few hundred dollars overdue, that structure can turn a slow climb into a faster reset, especially when bills compete with groceries, gas and other fixed costs.
The money behind the program is coming from its new owners after BlackRock’s acquisition of ALLETE, the utility’s parent company. On Track is fully funded at 3.1 million dollars and is part of a broader 200 million dollars in benefits tied to the ownership change. Some customers will be enrolled automatically, while others will need to apply online or by mail.
The monthly discount and the matched payments only work for people who are enrolled or who complete an application.
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