As a year from the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic comes to a close, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is deciding to lift the moratorium on disconnection it had put in place to protect the Commonwealth's residents. This decision comes from pressures exerted by the utilities on the commission, which brings into question who Pennsylvania's PUC is meant to serve. With millions of families across the country struggling with long unmet and unpaid utility bills, resuming disconnections seems to come at the worst time. Yes, moratoriums are a bandaid solution to the ongoing crisis that unfolds but leaving customers vulnerable to disconnections and, thus, adverse health effects seems irresponsible and selfish, at best.
The Associated Press, "Pa. to Lift Last Coronavirus-Induced Moratorium on Utility Shutoffs", contributed by Briana Leone, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 17 March 2021, accessed 21 December 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/pa-lift-last-coronavirus-induced-moratorium-utility-shutoffs
Critical Commentary
As a year from the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic comes to a close, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is deciding to lift the moratorium on disconnection it had put in place to protect the Commonwealth's residents. This decision comes from pressures exerted by the utilities on the commission, which brings into question who Pennsylvania's PUC is meant to serve. With millions of families across the country struggling with long unmet and unpaid utility bills, resuming disconnections seems to come at the worst time. Yes, moratoriums are a bandaid solution to the ongoing crisis that unfolds but leaving customers vulnerable to disconnections and, thus, adverse health effects seems irresponsible and selfish, at best.