Companies resumed shutoffs in a gradual way once the moratorium lifted. Companies hoped to give customers some leeway to gather funds to pay bills in their entirety or to get on payment plans. However, due to the economic hardships that households continue to experience due to the pandemic, many...Read more
This article details the situations of the moratorium across different states. The article also talks about several widespread worries: unemployment and the end of subsidies happening soon. Important to consider is the environmental injustice in Georgia, as the state is seeing rise in daily...Read more
This article provides an update on the state of residential utility arrears in New Jersey, where nearly 600,000 customers owe more than $570 million in back payments. Johnson explains that low income workers/households were hit by pandemic costs and losses particularly hard, but that middle...Read more
This article discusses the effects of the utility shutoff moratorium as a policy (an emergency policy) that had no vision for long term pay back. I did not count the number of times the phrase "keeing the lights on" was repeated, but I should have. The article also describes how different...Read more
This report by TURN discusses all of the impacts created by the problematic policy of shutting utilities off for residential customers. Beyond a discussion on health impacts, the report also considers the already precarious conditions of the communities that experience the highest rates of...Read more
This article provides an update on a case of technical negligence by PECO in 2018 and 2019, when their automated phone service which informs customers of a service shutoff 72-hours ahead of the termination failed to make the call (2018) or gave the wrong termination date (2019). This article...Read more
This report was created by Carbon Switch, an energy efficiency investment company, that collected information on household energy bill accumulation and unemployment rates. Predictions made by the firm estimate a whooping 76 million households will be shut off or will be threatened with shutoffs...Read more
Incomes of americans have been drastically reduced in recent weeks as COVID19 related relief programs have reached their deadlines without extensions. The federal eviction moratorium ended on July 24th, and the program providing an extra $600 in unemployment benefits expired on July 30th, and...Read more
This article documents the end of the utility shutoffs suspension in Pennsylvania, which will take place on November 9, 2020.
Utilities have said that the moratorium, which was enacted in March, has not led to an increase in payment plan applications, but has instead led to an...Read more
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...Read more