The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted 3-1 to terminate the shutoffs but put safeguards in place to protect the most vulnerable. According to the article, “The PUC’s order will still prohibit utilities from shutting off “protected customers” whose income is no more than triple the Federal Poverty Guidelines, which are set at $26,200 for a family of four, with the yearly limit for such a family would be $78,600. The protected customers must apply for available assistance programs and request a payment arrangement from the utility to pay down their debt” (Maykuth, 2020).
There remains confusion regarding what these protection for the poorest citizens of Pennsylvania will be as well as what these payment programs will be.
Anonymous, "Utilities can soon cut off nonpaying customers, Pa. says, but the poorest customers are protected", contributed by Alison Kenner, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 18 December 2020, accessed 19 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/utilities-can-soon-cut-nonpaying-customers-pa-says-poorest-customers-are-protected
Critical Commentary
The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted 3-1 to terminate the shutoffs but put safeguards in place to protect the most vulnerable. According to the article, “The PUC’s order will still prohibit utilities from shutting off “protected customers” whose income is no more than triple the Federal Poverty Guidelines, which are set at $26,200 for a family of four, with the yearly limit for such a family would be $78,600. The protected customers must apply for available assistance programs and request a payment arrangement from the utility to pay down their debt” (Maykuth, 2020).
There remains confusion regarding what these protection for the poorest citizens of Pennsylvania will be as well as what these payment programs will be.