In The Loop – September 2, 2022

A three year shut-off moratorium is modestly extended

It was announced this month that, excluding those who earn less than 60 percent of the state median income or receive government assistance, the moratorium on shutting off power for those who don’t pay their bills has ended.

This was first enacted prior to the pandemic in 2019 when the winter was especially cold and utilities received tremendous pressure from advocate organizations such as Operation Fuel and state officials to keep power on for those customers. That, combined with the COVID-19 timeline, led to a policy that was extended much further than ever anticipated.

Eversource and Avangrid have been working hard to end the policy given what they estimate will be a largely disproportionate impact on rate payers that would ultimately see their power bills go up because of the delinquencies in payment. The state’s energy oversight authority, PURA, though disagreed with having those with limited income be able to have their power shut off and this led to the recent decision announced a few days ago……..KEEP READING.