Customers can still pay in Nogales

You can still pay your gas or electric bill at the UniSource office at 1710 N. Mastick Way in Nogales.

UniSource Energy Services (UES) had planned to pull the plug on bill payments in its offices in Lake Havasu, Kingman and Nogales on Oct. 1. But after hearing from Nogales officials about the hardship it would cause to customers, UES decided to keep the doors open in Nogales.

When the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) came to Nogales Aug. 17 to hear comments about a proposed gas rate hike, commissioners got an earful about bill payments.

“I am strongly opposed to the closing of the store (the UniSource office),” Mayor Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel said, according to the meeting transcript. “It’s very, very important for them (customers) to have that face-to-face contact, if they disagree with anything on their payment.”

Risky business?

One commissioner asked if having so much cash on hand posed a risk to the company. City Utilities Director Flavio Gonzalez said a lot of water customers paid their bills in cash without causing a problem for the city.

“Nogales is a cash community,” said City Councilman Nubar Hanessian. “You see people making a cash payment on the last day (before the bill is due).”

Paul Bonavia, chairman, president and CEO of UES, agreed to work with the City of Nogales in a letter to the ACC dated Sept. 8, 2009.

“We will be approaching the Mayor to enlist his support in implementing alternatives, if possible,” Bonavia wrote. “If an alternative solution is not reached prior to October 1, we will continue to accept customer bill payments at the Nogales office.”

Customers can also make their payment in cash or with a debit card at Wal-Mart for a service charge of 88 cents, said UES spokesman Joe Salkowski. UES has drop boxes for check or money order payments at its Nogales office, at MediaCom, 181 N. Arroyo Blvd., and at Rio Rico Utilities, 1060 Yavapai Drive, Suite 9.