Memphis Light, Gas and Water understands the serious impact that a utility disconnection can have on a household. Keeping customers connected whenever possible is not simply a policy objective—it is central to our mission as a public utility serving the Memphis and Shelby County community.
That is why the recent MLK50 stories about MLGW’s disconnection practices deserve additional context. The stories focus heavily on the number of disconnections while giving insufficient attention to the policies, programs and safeguards MLGW has established to help customers avoid disconnection in the first place—and to prevent customers from accumulating debt that can ultimately become insurmountable.
MLGW's credit policies are designed to give customers time to address past-due balances. Customers with established, satisfactory payment histories are given more latitude before reaching the point where disconnection procedures begin. The customer-care system is not designed to immediately disconnect a household because of a missed payment. There are multiple steps between an unpaid bill and a service interruption, including notices and opportunities to make payments or establish arrangements. MLGW's customer-care policies also recognize hardship situations and provide mechanisms for extensions and repayment arrangements.
There is an important reason for this approach: allowing an unpaid balance to grow indefinitely is not necessarily compassionate. A customer who accumulates thousands of dollars in utility debt may eventually face a much more difficult financial situation than a customer who is encouraged to address a manageable balance earlier. MLGW's policies are intended to balance compassion with the responsibility to prevent customers from reaching a level of debt that they cannot realistically repay.
That balance is particularly important for a public utility. MLGW must provide reliable electricity, natural gas and water to the entire community while maintaining the infrastructure required to deliver those services. Unlike a private lender, MLGW cannot simply write off every unpaid balance without consequences. Those costs ultimately have to be borne somewhere in the utility system.
MLGW also offers an extensive range of programs designed to help customers who are struggling. These include Plus-1 assistance, On Track, PowerPay, Budget Billing, extended payment arrangements, the Net Due Date program, Winter Moratorium protections and other assistance options. On Track, for example, is specifically designed for residential customers with limited incomes who have fallen behind. Participants can receive one-on-one assistance, budgeting and energy-saving guidance, social-service referrals and deferred billing arrangements that can extend for years.
PowerPay provides another alternative for customers who need greater control over when and how they pay. Customers with smart meters can make smaller payments as needed, avoid deposits, late fees and reconnection fees, and use the program to work down an existing past-due balance over time.
MLGW also participates in and facilitates programs that bring outside resources to customers in need. Plus-1, for example, provides one-time assistance to eligible customers experiencing genuine financial hardship, funded by contributions from MLGW customers.
These programs do not mean every customer experiencing hardship will receive every form of assistance. Resources are finite, and eligibility requirements are necessary to ensure limited assistance reaches customers with qualifying needs. But portraying MLGW as simply cutting off vulnerable customers without offering meaningful alternatives leaves out a substantial part of the story.
There is another important consideration missing from the discussion: MLGW cannot simply create a special utility rate for one economic class of customers at will.
MLGW is a public utility and a division of the City of Memphis. The Memphis City Council—not MLGW management—serves as the utility's rate-setting body. This means proposals to fundamentally restructure rates for particular customer groups are subject to public-policy, legal and governmental constraints. MLGW cannot unilaterally decide that one category of residential customers should pay substantially less while shifting those costs elsewhere.
At the same time, affordability remains a priority. MLGW's published rate comparisons show that Memphis continues to have comparatively low utility costs among major utilities surveyed. The utility's 2026 comparison, based on published rates for 39 cities, places Memphis among the lowest-cost markets for typical combined electric, gas and water service. Our customers may not be aware, that one third of their utility bill is actually third-party (non-MLGW) charges for municipal services such as trash collection, fire fees and mosquito abatement. Failing to pay these charges can lead to a disconnection of utility services.
That does not diminish the reality that a bill can still be unaffordable for an individual household, particularly in a city where many families have limited financial resources. MLGW recognizes that reality. But it also means the conversation should include the full range of factors involved: household income, energy consumption, housing efficiency, weather, assistance availability, payment behavior (39% of our customers do not pay their bill on time), utility infrastructure costs and the legal and governmental framework under which a public utility operates.
MLGW welcomes legitimate scrutiny of its policies and is continually looking for ways to improve how we communicate with and serve customers. We also welcome a constructive conversation about how Memphis can expand assistance, improve housing energy efficiency, reduce household energy consumption and identify sustainable ways to help customers experiencing hardship.
But that conversation should be based on the complete picture.
MLGW's goal is not to disconnect customers. Our goal is to provide safe, reliable and affordable utility service while helping customers avoid both service interruptions and the accumulation of debt they cannot afford to repay. The policies and programs already in place reflect that responsibility—and MLGW will continue working to strengthen them while protecting the financial sustainability of the public utility on which the entire community depends.
Memphis, TN 38103