Angela Haislip begged the power company not to cut off service to her elderly mother and stepfather, both stroke victims who depend on oxygen machines and nebulizers to breathe.

In more than 20 years, her parents had never, ever, ever missed a payment to the Halifax Electric Membership Corporation, the power co-operative that serves rural Warren County, North Carolina, she said. Haislips 70-year-old mother had actually overpaid last year by so much, she built up enough credit that she hadnt had to pay for the first two months of 2020.

But amid the chaos of the novel coronavirus pandemic, her mother fell behind.

Haislips 61-year-old stepfather only recently moved back into the couples mobile home after spending time in a nursing home recovering from a stroke. His disability checks were still being sent to the home, and Haislip, who is unemployed, didnt have the $303 owed on the account.

She called the utility and promised to give them my whole stimulus check to pay the bill if theyd only give her a few more days. She lined up a family friend to loan them the money once the friends paycheck went through.

I even told them they were stroke victims, and the lady on the phone pretty much called me a liar, said Haislip, 46, choking back tears. Its heartbreaking. It seems like theres no trust in the world. People dont care like they used to.

On March 23, the utility sent a notice warning that service would be shut off in four days. At the couples mobile home, which is 14 feet by 80 feet, the lights went out at 10 a.m. last Friday.

They still kicked them to the curb like they were nothing, Haislip said. Its all about money to them. They dont care who dies during this.

Brady Martin, a spokesperson for the Halifax Electric Membership Corporation, said the utility serves fewer than 11,000 people, making it one of the states smallest co-ops, and it operates on thin margins. The utilitys board was waiting for the state to guarantee its lost revenue before agreeing to halt suspensions altogether, but said it was negotiating deals with hard-up members in the meantime.

Haislip didnt show power of attorney, Martin said, so the utility did not even register her claims as coming from the account holder.

If one person doesnt pay, other members have to make up the difference. Thats the way rural electric co-ops work, Martin said Tuesday. On Friday, which was our cut-off day, we had several people cut off, but several people were not because they fulfilled the commitment or at least made some attempt to contact us.

Millions of Americans have been temporarily spared this routine hardship this month as confirmed cases of COVID-19 spread to all 50 states. Major utilities and regulators in more than half of the country have halted disconnections for nonpayment, providing relief to cash-strapped families whove had to choose between paying bills or buying food and medicine as an unprecedented 3.3 million Americans are now jobless.