This article discusses the Pennsylvania PUC’s decision to resume disconnections in more detail. It also references why utilities have been so adamantly insistent on reinstating utility shut offs. According to the utilities, at least as documented in the article, the instated moratorium has provided customers with an excuse to overlook and overrun their bills. This view on the part of the utilities holistically ignores the hardships that are being faced by customers at multiple scales, where customers who were making 6 digit figures and who filed taxes as such are also struggling at the moment, especially on the lower end of the spectrum. Of course the utilities note they will address the needs of the customers who are most struggling, but this seems arbitrary and will likely only address the needs of those earning under $75,000, if that.
Andrew Maykuth, "Pa. utilities urge a resumption of shutoffs as pandemic subsides and unpaid bills soar ", contributed by Briana Leone, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 17 March 2021, accessed 26 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/pa-utilities-urge-resumption-shutoffs-pandemic-subsides-and-unpaid-bills-soar-0
Critical Commentary
This article discusses the Pennsylvania PUC’s decision to resume disconnections in more detail. It also references why utilities have been so adamantly insistent on reinstating utility shut offs. According to the utilities, at least as documented in the article, the instated moratorium has provided customers with an excuse to overlook and overrun their bills. This view on the part of the utilities holistically ignores the hardships that are being faced by customers at multiple scales, where customers who were making 6 digit figures and who filed taxes as such are also struggling at the moment, especially on the lower end of the spectrum. Of course the utilities note they will address the needs of the customers who are most struggling, but this seems arbitrary and will likely only address the needs of those earning under $75,000, if that.