utilities

Hundreds of thousands of utility customers facing shut-offs

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

Pa. to Lift Last Coronavirus-Induced Moratorium on Utility Shutoffs

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...Read more

PA Local Telephone Companies

Here is a comprehensive list of PA's telephone companies.Read more

Philadelphia Liens and Debt: What You Need to Know Before Acquiring Privately Owned Vacant Lots

This piece from the organization Grounded in Philly provides resources and information for those seeking to gain ownership of a vacant lot that is privately owned and how to deal with unpaid debt left behind by the absent owner. After explaining what liens are, the page moves on to explore the...Read more

Unpaid Pa. utility bills soar 68% in the pandemic, and thousands face shutoffs next month

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

Connecticut needs to make big changes in ‘who does what’ in the electric power industry

Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) Chair Gillet said she is not interested in utilities' excuses in not providing reliable service. Eversource has to deal with electricity service and other services it provides, many calling it a monopoly of services. In a 2018 grid-...Read more

Utilities near end of Tropical Storm Isaias outage woes

This article talks about the repercussions of the storm as it hit Massachusetts. Although outages were felt across the East coast, Massachusetts had not witnessed as many outages as Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York, which were among the worst hit. That said, companies like Eversource...Read more

Utilities Propose First Regional Grid-Balancing Market in Southeastern US

Duke Energy, Dominion, and Southern Company all plan to trade electricity across state, which would make energy costs lower. This plan would also improve reliance on non-carbon-emitting power sources. The article goes into more details about the way energy is distributed across the United States...Read more

On fairness and climate change advocacy

The key is, and you know this, how can we communicate this information on climate change in a way that's going to attract them, it's got to be long term thinking as opposed to short term. You know what I mean? If I'm thinking, I'm sitting and I'm thinking, how can I attract people...Read more

A tidal wave of utility shutoffs is coming: 34.5 millionhouseholds will lose shutoff protections in the next month: An impact analysis of changing utility shutoff moratoriums

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

Utility customers owe up to $40B in COVID-19 debt, but who will pay it?

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

What to Do When You Can’t Pay Your Utility Bill

This brief article concisely summarizes available options for people and households in need of bill assistance. Prior to providing information on bill assistance, however, this article goes into an all-familiar step-by-step on how to change our household behaviors to reduce energy expenditure....Read more

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