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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah Power, the utility criticized for its perceived slow response to power outages caused by a late December snowstorm, said Monday it would give the hardest-hit customers a "goodwill credit" on their bills.
Those who went without power for 48 to 71 hours are eligible for a $100 credit, while 72 to 95 hours earns $150. Those without power for 96 or more hours will get a $200 credit.
The credits could begin showing up on bills as early as this month.
"The company is providing this billing credit because the quality of service we provided to customers during this storm was not up to our usual standards for communications and information," said Rich Walje, the lead Utah executive for PacifiCorp, which owns Utah Power.
From Dec. 25 to Dec. 27, 10 to 60 inches of snow fell on northern Utah. Because of their proximity to Great Salt Lake and a weather condition known as the lake effect, Salt Lake and Davis counties were particularly hard hit.
The storm peaked Dec. 26, when at least 70,000 Utah Power customers had no electricity. Some customers were without power for three days after that. Last Thursday, a windstorm swept through, cutting off 13,500 customers.
During the first storm, the utility's computer call center broke down. When Utah Power substituted live operators for the computer system, customers got constant busy signals. Many thought the system had acknowledged their calls, only to learn from line-repair crews they flagged down during the outage that reports hadn't been received.
Utah Power estimates the credits could top $2 million.
The company said it has been tracking customer claims by account numbers, so there is no need for a customer to make another claim to get the credit.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
