Utility Bills

Have you ever turned off your heating or air conditioning in order to save money on utility bills? (Q.33 Wi2020)

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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

If your utility bills have increased, how are you coping with increased expenses? (Q47, Cumulative)

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Unpaid utility bills are soaring in the pandemic. Consumer advocates fear mass shutoffs loom

Energy companies are pressing the PUC to relax their moratorium on shutting off non-paying customers. Unpaid bills amount to $479 billion at the end of June. Utilities also blame the moratoriums for encouraging customers not to enter into agreements, where companies like PECO only had 2% of its...Read more

There Could Be an Energy Bill Debt Tsunami, Too

We're including this article because it discusses the state of household energy bills and the use of pandemic moratoriums. The article discusses differences between when states ended the utility shutoff moratoriums, but also noted that nationally, household consumers did spend more during the...Read more

Utility Shutoffs Allowed with Restrictions by Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission

This article released by the Philadelphia Energy Authority is actually dated to this past November 2020, when the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission decided utilities could resume shutting off customers who did not pay their utility bills. With the November provisions, utilities were allowed...Read more

COVID In Pennsylvania: Commonwealth To Lift Last Moratorium On Utility Shutoffs

As with other articles released this week, CBS3 Philly reports on the Pennsylvania PUC's decision to lift the moratorium on utility disconnections this coming April 1st. The decision follows pressures from utility representatives, who claim there is now federal assistance available to renters to...Read more

Have you ever found it difficult/confusing to read your utility bill? If so, what makes them confusing? (Q38a Wi2020)

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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

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