Dozens Of Seniors Went Hours Without Power After Accounting Error Left Residents At Hillcrest Senior Apartments Without Electricity–As Heat Index Approached 100

Residents at East Point’s Hillcrest Active Adult Living Community apartments went hours without power yesterday after what a spokesman for the company that owns the development described to The East Point News’s reporting team as an “accounting error”. That resulted in an untold number of utility service accounts being temporarily shut off for non-payment by East Point Power at the development.

The incident is deeply concerning since hundreds of senior citizens live at the complex–including seniors who utilize oxygen machines that assist them with living.

The East Point News went to work to get the details as soon as we were made aware of what happened and spoke to residents who expressed frustration that the incident occurred, but relief that the ordeal lasted hours–and not longer.

“About 50 people were affected”, said longtime resident, community activist, and senior advocate Eddie Lee Brewster, a former East Point City Councilmember and mayoral candidate.

“The residents called me, and that’s how I got involved”, said Brewster, who said the cutoffs started after sunrise but that the power wasn’t restored to many until around 2 P.M..

The East Point News reached out to East Point Customer Care, the City Manager’s office, the company that manages Hillcrest, and the development’s owners for an explanation as to how this occurred.

According to what we learned, the seniors living at the development all have independent utility accounts with East Point Power but all of their accounts’ bills appear to not be processed by the residents themselves through East Point Power, but instead through the on-site managers through the property management company, who in turn pay the utility accounts’ balances through the City Of East Point.

And that appears to be where the error occurred: East Point Power showed the electric accounts were delinquent and subject to be disconnected. And they were.

The East Point City Manager’s office directed us to a city spokesperson who then forwarded us an email from Hillcrest’s property manager which was dated yesterday and directed to the City. In the letter, the property manager wrote that the trouble, “was not an East Point issue”, and thanked the City for “looking into it and sending someone out for us”.

The letter also says the error was a result of, “The way Real Page is paying our bills”.

We researched “Real Page” and discovered it is a software program which in its online description of itself says it, “Unifies property management operations, leasing, resident experience, analytics, and AI workflows across multifamily portfolios.”

But our question is: Who was managing the software when the issue occurred?

We reached The Benoit Group, which developed and owns the Hillcrest property, and they informed us they were aware of what transpired and already had reached out to the on-site property management team, who are employed by The Dorchester Property Management Group. The Benoit Group told us they were assured by the Dorchester team that the issue had been identified and resolved.

According to the spokesman for Benoit, the issue was fully addressed and will not resurface.

But that’s not enough for former Councilmember Brewster, who said the issue has happened more than once in the past.

“This ain’t the first time it’s happened. It’s not the second time it’s happened. We can only hope and pray it’s the last time it does”.

The National Weather Service’s Heat Advisory

The National Weather Service (NWS) based in Peachtree City issued a Heat Advisory that included East Point and the broader Metro Atlanta area which expired on Monday, August 18. The advisory was active from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM EDT as part of a severe regional heatwave.

The heat tempered a little on Tuesday according to the NWS, with real-feel values right around 97°F to 100°F–less than the intense heat index that led to the NWS declaring a heat advisory two days before, but still uncomfortable.

Under Georgia Public Service Commission Rule 515-3-2-.04, which governs seasonal restrictions, Georgia Power is prohibited from disconnecting residential electric service for non-payment when a National Weather Service Heat Advisory or Excessive Heat Warning is in effect or forecast for that county prior to 8:00 a.m. on the scheduled disconnection day.

Electric Membership Cooperatives (EMCs) and municipal city systems, such as East Point Power, are not directly governed by this exact PSC rule, though many co-ops voluntarily adopt similar extreme heat and high-temperature cutoff policies (often around 98°F or heat index values over 105°F).

We reached out to the City Manager and East Point Power to determine whether the City Of East Point has voluntarily adopted its own heat index policy but did not receive a response by publication of this story.

Hillcrest’s History

The Hillcrest Community sits on on a 9.23-acre site which replaced the blighted “Hillcrest Homes” public housing project that was originally built in 1950 but was demolished in 2018. Today’s Hillcrest finished construction in 2019 and soon after began accepting residents, who must be at least 62 years of age to qualify for residence.

According to new resident manuals, residents are individuals or senior couples who do not require assisted nursing care but choose to live in a community with age-restricted peers.

Because rental costs are tied directly to household income via HUD subsidies, residents consist strictly of low-to-moderate-income earners, often relying on fixed incomes such as Social Security.

Today’s Hillcrest Community sits directly across the roadway from Hillcrest Cemetery, which was established around 1890 as a private family burial site but opened to the public in 1912. It is the final resting place for roughly 10,000 people: This includes veterans from at least seven major conflicts, ranging from the American Civil War to more recent conflicts in the Middle East.