To help members during the COVID-19 pandemic, in May SLVREC/Ciello temporarily suspended service disconnects due to nonpayment of bills.
Electric co-ops are built by, and belong to, the communities we serve. That community focus drives our co-op as we respond to evolving COVID-19 challenges and local concerns. Suspending disconnects was one of many steps we took to reduce stress on our members and provide local families and businesses with certainty during an uncertain time. Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve worked to support families and businesses throughout our community, including providing additional financial assistance to members.
We recognize the significant economic fallout from COVID-19 on local families and businesses. The economic health of SLV REC is directly tied to the wellbeing of our local communities. Not-for-profit electric co-ops like SLV REC have no shareholders and routinely return excess revenues to their members. Because of this structure and the desire to keep energy costs as low as possible, some co-ops have more limited reserve margins to sustain high rates of nonpayment. Nationally, the pandemic is projected to cost electric cooperatives $10 billion through 2022, according to new research by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
As our communities begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, SLV REC has resumed disconnects for accounts with a past due balance. However, we will do what we can to help avoid disconnection of services.  
The COVID-19 pandemic was unprecedented, and we know our members may be facing financial challenges and we understand you may have trouble paying your bills during this critical time. If you missed payments and have a past-due balance, we can help. Please contact us as soon as possible to discuss making a payment or setting up a payment plan. You can reach us at 719-852-3538.