A power saving method meant to temporarily turn things off during high demand times has been adapted in Peru to get people’s attention that it’s past time to pay their bills. City Hall is turning their power off and on again, flipping the switches every half hour. City Clerk Dave Bartley says some people have ignored overdue and shutoff notices, but coming out of the pandemic, the city can’t just let it go anymore.
A City Council member asked if the on-off cycle can be changed, but Bartley doesn’t think so. He says since starting the tactic three weeks ago, some people came in quickly and paid up. Others are apparently just living with intermittent outages.