utilities

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

Peco plans hourly rates to encourage customers to shift energy use to off-peak periods

PA regulators have approved PECO’s plan to implement time-of-use rates for its customers, including both residential and commercial consumers. The hope is that some will shift electricity use to off-peak hours, during which rates of use will be discounted. The system has three price tiers...Read more

Aspen's Path to 100% Renewable Energy

This artifact is an analysis of utility use by the city of Aspen Colorado and how they became one of the very few US cities to use solely renewable energy. This is important because it shows a successful example of a city in the US where the infrastructure has seamlessly transitioned to...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

Peco improperly shut off nearly 50,000 customers because of computer glitches

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

New report finds Texas utility-scale solar growth may push remaining coal plants into retirement

This article talks about the vulnerability of coal plants across the country. An energy generation market powered by Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is set to be at risk by 2022, coal fleet is now going to be down by October. The viable option seen by many in the south is to...Read more

IREC’s Clean Energy Consumer Bill of Rights

Based on reactions from the COVID-19 survey, specifically the question regarding energy rights, I was curious to see what the discussion was around them, I was intrigued to find an organization I had never heard of the IREC (Interstate Renewable Energy Council) and their proposed Renewable...Read more

Power outages after Tropical Storm Isaias were a warning to utilities

This article is very interesting in that it details the impacts witnessed by New York City but it also talks about the revealed extant vulnerabilities that are going to be worsened by the storm and that is going to significantly increase exposure and risk of contagion for COVID-19. The article...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

Utah Community Renewable Energy Act

The attached document is a bill passed through Utah's state Senate that outlines their mission towards 100% renewable energy by 2030 through the use of Community Renewable Energy initiatives. There's no similar legislature throughout the U.S. (at least, that I can find) that legally...Read more

PUC Issues Aqua/Peoples Gas Audit Report & Implementation Plan

To reduce costs offloaded on consumers, Pennsylvania's PUC called for several cost-saving measures from gas, water, and wastewater utilities Aqua PA and People's Gas. The hopes are to save over $400,000 dollars in expenses for the utilities, which would ultimately be 'saved' by utility consumers...Read more

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