THOMASVILLE — Unusually frigid in recent weeks resulted in higher utility bills that could pose a financial hardship for some City of Thomasville Utilities customers.

City officials said Thursday Thomasville Utilities will provide extensions on extremely high utility bills resulting from the recent record cold temperatures.

Heating bills are expected to be extremely high because of the record-setting cold weather that occurred in late December and early January.

According to the University of Georgia’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, heating demand for South Georgia has been 60 percent to 90 percent above normal, or 140 percent to 180 percent more than same period last year.

Thomasville Utilities’ overall electric demand set a record during the cold snap, according to Don Atkinson, assistant city manager for utilities.

“Our peak electric demand hit an all-time high on January 11, when the morning low was about 19 degrees, and the daytime high was only 46. We had more than a week with morning temperatures in the low to mid-twenties. Consumption of electricity hit record levels during this period. Because of the record cold, Thomasville Utilities customers can expect bills much higher than normal,” Atkinson said.

Thomasville Utilities customers in good standing can formally request an extension to pay their bills with bill dates from Jan. 24 through Feb. 18.

The extension, which applies to the amount in excess of the customer’s previous month’s bill, will mean the customer can spread the cost of the high bill over three payments. To be eligible for the extension, the customer must be in good standing and must pay the first installment of the extension by the due date of the bill.

“As we began to look at the record-high electric usage, we knew our customers were going to experience much higher than normal bills. For many of our customers, these high bills will be difficult to pay within the normal billing period. For this reason, we are providing this extension, and urge our customers contact us if they need the extended time to pay,” City Manager Steve Sykes said.

For more information about the bill extension, customers may call the City of Thomasville Utilities at (229)227-7001.