utilities

Has COVID-19 changed other weekly/monthly expenses or created new expenses?

It's changed gasoline because I don't have to drive as often, so that's been less. But of course, there's more heat required and more electricity and water usage, so all utilities are going up. Read more

As End of Utility Shutoff Moratorium Nears, SNAP Fears Rush of Requests for Assistance

SNAP directors are urging those in crisis to apply right away whilst asking those who can cope to wait a little longer before applying. The question here is: is it ethical to ask anyone who needs help (regardless of critical or non-critical status) to wait to apply? Shouldn't it be the...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

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

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

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

Utilities can soon cut off nonpaying customers, Pa. says, but the poorest customers are protected

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

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

PUC Seeks Comment on Proposed Settlements with Retail Energy SuppliersConcerning Sales & Marketing Practices

This article is a press release by Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission following recent investigations into misleading marketing outlets on the part of Pennsylvania energy suppliers. Following the investigations, NG&E will have to pay civil penalties and contribute to hardship funds in...Read more

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