utilities

Performance incentive mechanisms can support broad policy goals, RMI finds

Performance Incentive Mechanisms (PIMs) are being considered to nudge utilities' behaviors and have been successful in states like New York and Rhode Island. Hawaii implemented shared savings mechanisms which include solar development and storage. Effective PIMs do require a move away from '...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

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 York And Connecticut Call For Probes Into Utility Companies' Response To Isaias

This article is another article that talks about governors investigating utilities' poor responses. That said, this article also mentions Connecticut and New York declaring states of emergency in order to speed up assistance to communities most hardly hit by the storm. That said, we should also...Read more

Interview Excerpt with Margaret Clark

Margaret: As a homeowner, you got water, taxes, electric, if I need the roof fixed I have to call somebody. You got the whole thing. And I get a water bill every month now. Back in the day, I used to get a water bill once every three months. They'd bill every three months. Not every month like...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

Energy Companies Have Spent Billions on Projects That Go Nowhere

This article talks about the ways in which utilities in New Jersey have worked to increase storm resilience since hurricane Sandy. That said, even with $4 billion in investments made into grid systems little has improved, Sierra Green New Jersey Director Tiffel said. We can think about ways in...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

Nearly 35 million households will lose their utility shutoff protections over the next month

With the onset of the pandemic, many states have put moratoriums in place to avoid families being shutoff in the middle of the crisis. However, even with extensions, many of these moratoriums are set to expire by the end of September, which would leave a little less than 35 million people...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

A Lawsuit Challenges the Tennessee Valley Authority’s New Program of ‘Never-Ending’ Contracts

This article talks about the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) locking 142 of 151 utilities into never-ending contracts, with stipulations to back out of their contracts with 20-year notices. This would essentially prevent many utilities from changing their contracts and power sources to...Read more

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