Pittsburgh sees surge in service disconnections, number of utility customers struggling to pay bills

(UI) — According to data gathered by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission over the past year, both the number of utility customers in Pennsylvania who are having financial difficulties making their payments and the number of service disconnections that are not related to payments have grown.

Electric utilities cut off service to more than 210,000 clients in 2022 due to unpaid bills, an increase of 5% from 2021, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who originally reported this story.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, utility disconnections were outlawed. Except for low-income customers, who were protected from shutoffs until March 31, 2021, the moratorium ended on November 9, 2020, for everyone else.

Policies from the pandemic era also increased eligibility for customer assistance programs and increased funding for federal initiatives like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides one-time grants to economically disadvantaged households to cover their energy costs.

In addition, the cost of other expenses that vie for scarce resources and the price of electricity have both increased rapidly during the previous year.

Bill-paying problems increased as a result of that.

“Duquesne Light has provided energy assistance to significantly more customers since the start of the pandemic,” Alyssa Battaglia, a spokeswoman for the Downtown-based electric utility which supplies power to parts of Allegheny and Beaver counties, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “In 2022 alone, customers received more than $13 million in grant money, which is more than a three-fold increase compared to the years leading up to the pandemic.”

When it came to shutting off clients who were late on their payments, many electric companies had reached or even surpassed their levels from before the pandemic.

In contrast to 2021, Duquesne Light cancelled more than 30,400 customers last year. Just over 27,600 consumers were disconnected by the company in 2019 because to non-payment.

About 21,000 accounts were switched off by West Penn Power, one of the four utilities run by Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp. in 2022. The amount was roughly 19,740 in 2019.

According to the PUC, gas companies disconnected more than 74,800 consumers in total last year, a 6% decrease from the year before.

2022 saw a significant drop in shutoffs at Peoples Natural Gas from the year before and from 2019, when 20,699 consumers were disconnected, to 15,335 shutoffs.

11,380 accounts at Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania were disconnected for non-payment last year, up from 10,770 the year prior to the epidemic.

The Office of Consumer Advocate, Pennsylvania utility regulators, and the state's numerous utilities emphasize that customers in need of assistance can contact their companies to learn more about customer assistance programs and payment options.

There might be some relief from one federal change.

Because of the roughly 6% increase in the federal poverty level, which is an income threshold modified annually by the federal government, more people may now be eligible for programs helping low-income customers. To ascertain eligibility for various public and commercial aid programs, it is frequently utilized.

The new standards define the poverty line as an annual income of $13,590 for a single individual and $27,750 for a family of four.

“Some of our customers face continued financial challenges,” Will Pickering, CEO of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, said in statement according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Increasing the income thresholds will help even more households qualify for these important programs.”

A winter moratorium on shut offs is available to PWSA customers whose income is at or below 300% of the federal poverty line, where non-payment related disconnections affected 440 customers last year.

As part of the PWSA bill discount program, which has more than 6,000 customers enrolled, those making 150% of the poverty line or less receive their first 1,000 gallons of water and wastewater service free, the company stated.

The qualifying requirements for local gas and electric utilities have also been modified to take into account the rising levels of poverty.

 

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