By Erika Hernandez, Paralegal

Our client Ramon Uvalde (fictitious name) is a monolingual Spanish-speaking 79-year-old man with congenital disabilities (mobility and speech impairment) who lives on his own in a rental in Orange County. He came to Community Legal Aid SoCal’s Seniors Unit on April 1, 2026 to seek assistance with a bill for $907 from Southern California Edison (SCE). He did not understand why he received a bill for such an amount and told us he had always paid his electric bill.

I helped him with contacting SCE customer service and asked for assistance in Spanish. We inquired about the bill and learned that he indeed made his payments but had not paid the full monthly amount since November 2024. Having done some prior research, we asked about enrolling him in SCE’s Arrearage Management Plan (AMP), which would provide assistance with past‐due electricity bills and allow him to avoid experiencing service interruptions. Customer Service offered to apply for the AMP program for Mr. Uvalde.

Further assistance and resolution

On April 15th, Mr. Uvalde contacted us because he needed assistance with the new electrical bill, dated April 9th, for $907. We contacted SCE customer service again. The SCE representative stated Mr. Uvalde was approved for the AMP program and the debt was forgiven on April 9th. She pointed out to us that on the top right corner of the bill, by the account number, it shows AMP, which indicates he was approved for the program. She stated that Mr. Uvalde can ignore the bill because his account now shows $0 debt, and that he will receive a new bill on April 25th. She reminded Mr. Uvalde that he must make sure that his bills are correctly paid; otherwise, he will not be able to reapply for the same program within 13 months. Mr. Uvalde indicated that he fully understood the arrangement.

After we finished the call, he expressed his relief at the outcome and his gratitude to us for our assistance and support with an issue that had him stressed out and anxious.

The materials or product were a result of a project funded by a contract with the California Department of Aging and administered by the Orange County Office on Aging.