HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 16, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Each Fall, Pennsylvania's PUC-regulated electric and natural gas utilities undertake a thorough survey of the residences where utility service has been terminated throughout the year. Through this mandated review process, known as the "cold weather survey", utilities painstakingly attempt to make contact with each of these residences through a variety of methods, which can include certified letters, notices, telephone calls and personal visits to customer's homes to work with residents to restore service wherever possible.
Utility companies employ a combination of outreach and assistance options to help customers restore service. These include enrolling customers in customer assistance reduced payment programs (CAP), waiving or offering reduced deposits and reconnection fees, and offering additional or extended payment agreements to customers to pay outstanding bills. Budget billing plans are available to help customers better manage future bills. Utilities further help customers to secure energy assistance funds, such as LIHEAP or utility supported Hardship Funds, through organizations such as Dollar Energy in Western Pennsylvania. In fact, throughout the year, Pennsylvania regulated utilities spend more than $1 million dollars a day to assist low income customers afford their utility bills.
The results of the cold weather survey are submitted to the Public Utility Commission where they are tracked each year as part of the program's regulated monitoring process.
Despite these extensive and costly efforts, there are 602 additional households without service this winter as compared to last winter and, that increase can be attributed solely to the Philadelphia region. Examining the numbers outside Philadelphia, there are 661 fewer households without service this December as compared to December 2007. Moreover, the 2008 number of 14,364 is below that experienced in 2004, 2005, and 2006, where the number of households without service ranged from 15,000 to 17,000. Further, the PUC cold weather survey counts households twice where both electric and gas service is off.
According to Energy Association of Pennsylvania President & CEO J. Michael Love, the Philadelphia situation comes as no surprise. "The amount of crisis assistance being doled out by DPW and their agents in Philadelphia does not positively reflect the record number of dollars available this year from the federal government. Philadelphia has been experiencing problems so far this year with administration of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program ("LIHEAP"). Due to a combination of inadequate staff, computer glitches and slow processing of crisis applications in Philadelphia, there are people without energy that could have service if the Philadelphia agencies simply mirrored the efforts put forth in other regions of the state. In sharp contrast, the utilities serving Pittsburgh have fewer households without service this winter as compared to 2007 because crisis assistance dollars were deployed expeditiously by entities such as Dollar Energy", Love said.
Unlike their deliverable energy counterparts (fuel oil, kerosene, propane), PUC-regulated electric and natural gas utilities have less than four weeks once the LIHEAP program opens in early November to help their customers secure LIHEAP Crisis grants before the winter moratorium begins on December 1 because DPW refuses to release crisis dollars to customers of utilities during the winter moratorium. PUC-regulated utilities are prohibited from terminating service to their low-income customers during the winter, without express Commission approval. Receiving a LIHEAP grant helps households not only to restore service but, just as importantly, to significantly reduce arrearages so that the same customer does not face termination again come spring.
"But it doesn't have to be this way," Love added. "This year is unique in that Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare ("DPW") received $331 million in federal assistance dollars in October to aid the Commonwealth's low-income residents with their heating needs. To their credit, the Administration and DPW expanded the program's eligibility criteria to make the funds available to a greater population. But, between computer glitches and an influx of applications for which they were not adequately staffed to handle, here we are in mid-December, DPW is still flush with money, and the citizenry who need these funds the most cannot get the dollars -- simply because they are customers of regulated utilities."
In prior years, DPW made a determination in late January or early February (mainly because the amount of available funds was not yet known) whether or not to fund a program component to assist customers of regulated utility companies facing spring termination. This year, however, DPW has already received all its funding for the year -- $331 million. Yet, despite numerous requests, DPW will not commit to designate funds to this crucial program component which aids regulated utility customers by helping avoid termination in the spring and protecting utility customers who pay bills regularly and timely by decreasing utility arrearages.
PA's regulated utilities are doing their part. EAPA members collectively spent more than $364 million in 2007 -- or "one million dollars per day" -- on programs to assist their low-income payment-troubled customers and will likely expend over $410 Million in 2008 or $1.1 Million a day. This dwarfs annual federal LIHEAP dollars provided to Pennsylvania citizens each year and is monumental compared to the nearly non-existent assistance programs provided by deliverable fuel vendors and the Commonwealth itself.
"Termination is always a last resort," Love concluded. "EAPA member utilities do everything in their power to assist their customers in maintaining service and will continue to push DPW and the Philadelphia authorities to release LIHEAP crisis grants to customers of regulated utilities."