Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued the following statement thanking the Public Service Department for its efforts to advocate for the reinstatement of the moratorium on household utility disconnects, and the Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) for approving the Department’s filing. The PUC order, announced Tuesday, reinstates the moratorium on involuntary disconnection on Vermont’s regulated utilities of electricity, telephone landlines and natural gas. The moratorium is in place until the end of March 2021.
“I want to thank Commissioner June Tierney and her team for filing with the PUC to prevent Vermonters from being disconnected from critical utility service due to financial hardship. As we head into winter while still facing a global pandemic and its economic impacts, we all need to look out for our neighbors and ensure we protect the most vulnerable. I’m proud that the state’s utility regulators have joined in that effort.”
PUC reinstates moratorium on disconnection of utility service during the COVID State of Emergency
The Vermont Public Utility Commission on Tuesday directed the state’s regulated utilities to stop any disconnection of utility service due to nonpayment of electricity, natural gas, and landline phone bills. This moratorium on involuntary utility disconnections will last through March 31, 2021.
The Commission first prohibited the disconnection of utility service due to nonpayment of bills on March 18, 2020.
However, the Commission lifted that moratorium on October 15 for several reasons, including the desire to encourage utility customers to apply for funds available through the Vermont COVID-19 Arrearage Assistance Program (“VCAAP”), a time-limited program that provided financial assistance to utility customers facing the threat of disconnection due to an inability to pay bills during the pandemic.
Utilities had reported that without the possibility of disconnection, few customers were applying for VCAAP assistance or engaging with their utilities to discuss payment plans.
In fact, since the moratorium was lifted on October 15, utilities were able to work with their customers to secure the full $8 million available through VCAAP to relieve at least some of the financial pressure on utilities and their customers.
Now that the VCAAP has ended as of December 15, the Commission has decided to reinstate the moratorium to prevent the disconnection of utility service in the face of a worsening pandemic and winter conditions.
Commission chair Anthony Z. Roisman stated, “Vermonters need to be able to keep the lights on, their homes warm, and their phone lines open as they survive the winter months of the pandemic.”
In renewing the moratorium, the Commission stressed to utility customers the importance of continuing to work with their utilities to make reasonable payment plans that will help them avoid building up unmanageable balances or being disconnected when the moratorium ends.
For more information, please contact John Cotter, Deputy General Counsel, at [email protected].
The Order can be found by searching for Case No. 20- 0703-PET in ePUC, the PUC’s online document-management system (https://epuc.vermont.gov/).
Source: Montpelier, VT, December 22, 2020 –Vermont Public Utility Commission. Montpelier, Vt. - 12.23.2020. Governor. Montpelier www.vermont.gov