PA Lawmakers Snooze Shut Off Law Renewal
Since 2014, a law known as Chapter 14 has both prevented winter shut offs, and allowed utilities to collect on bad debt. Unfortunately, the PA state lawmakers deadlocked on changes to the law. And that has effectively “snoozed” renewal hopes until the new session. As a result, PA utilities and consumer advocates both are unhappy, though for different reasons. And there is worry that failure to renew the Chapter 14 shut off law could even raise electricty rates. So, let’s dig a little deeper and see how this could affect your electricity bill. And how you can find the cheapest electric rates.
What Did the Winter Shut Off Law Do?
For consumers, Chapter 14 banned winter shutoffs for not paying utility bills between November 30 and before April 1. Thankfully, the PA PUC has since adopted this consumer protection. So, as lawmakers debate, there shouldn’t be a wave of winter shutoffs.
However, the big concern comes from utilities. Chapter 14 has allowed them to work with their customers to pay their debt. Under the law, utilities could make repayment plans and charge interest. But, by not extending the law, the PA PUC will manage the repayment plans. As result, this could delay payments to the utilities even further.
How Will This Cost PA Consumers?
This all means PA utilites can’t collect on unpaid bills from customers directly. Some critics point out this could build up bad debt for the utilities. If unpaid bills pile up, utilities can write them off but the lack of money still raises their costs. The utilities can pass this down to customers as a rate hike.
However, there are critics that claim Chapter 14 was never effective at cutting utility debt. They argue it has been breaking consumer protections, instead. Indeed, the number of utility shut offs has grown since 2014. From an annual average of 81,000 in the 1990s to 312,000 in 2014. But utilities argue that shutting off service off is a tool they need to keep customers paying their bills.
Why Did PA Lawmakers Fail to Renew the Law?
With Chapter 14 seemingly so important to both utilities and customers, why not renew it?
Democratic and Republican lawmakers were unable to agree on changes they wanted to make to Chapter 14. Democrats wanted to reauthorize the law with changes that added additional customer protections. These new protections would have included banning shutoffs during the hottest summer months, among other things. However, Republicans wanted to keep the law as-is, arguing that the current law was sufficient.
Since lawmakers could not agree during this most recent session, Chapter 14 will lapse on December 31st. And although the session opens on January 7, there’s no sign for when the law will come up for discussion.
Keep Your Utility Cost Low
Lawmakers will gather again in January. So this isn’t the last we’ve heard from Chapter 14. In the meantime, the best way you can keep your electricity bill low is to shop. You can view ratings for companies and compare plans from different energy providers in PA all on one easy to use website. The best way to save money is to shop for electricity plans on https://www.paenergyratings.com.