Gulf Power says it received about 6 million dollars less in customer bill payments in April. About 2.1 million dollars is considered bad debt, 7 times the historical average for April which is usually about $300,000. The company anticipates the COVID-related bad debt expense will continue to increase. Like other utilities Gulf Power suspended electric-service disconnections in March because of the pandemic. Utilities may seek rate increases to help cover the losses. For Gulf Power the process to revise base electric rates is expected to start in 2021.