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NCLC Energy & Utility Update 8 page quarterly newsletter. $95 annual subscription ($45 nonprofit)
Learn how utilities, state utility
regulators, and consumer advocates are addressing payment, shutoff, and other
customer service
problems of low-income consumers. The Update also monitors and analyzes utility
usage and payment patterns of consumers around the country. Find out what
other states are planning under deregulation.
Keep current on the latest
developments in:
Energy Assistance Programs
Low-Income Payment Plans
Retail Wheeling
Electric & Telecommunication
Industry Deregulation
Customer Service
Water and Sewer Rates
Demand Side Management
Programs
Weatherization
and other utility issues
affecting the poor.
Access to Utility Service (2001)
The only resource to explain how to stop a utility termination, reconnect utility
service, make
utility service more affordable, and deal with a host of other utility problems--whether
they involve
electricity, gas, telephone, water or cable, and whether the consumer is a tenant
or owner. Payment
issues are fully explored, including budget billing and deferred payment plans.
Special chapters deal
with unregulated fuels, such as oil and propane, mobile home park tenants, utility
subsidies in subsidized housing, master-metering, and the new telecommunications
laws and electric industry deregulation. $90 Supplemented annually.
Contents
Chapter 1
The Utilities
Chapter 2 Unregulated Deliverable Fuels
Chapter 3 Protection From Utility Shutoff: Sources of Law
Chapter 4 Right To Service
Chapter 5 Payment Issues: Payment, Late Charges, Budget Billing Plans and Deferred
Payment Plans
Chapter 6 Fighting Terminations of Utility Service
Chapter 7 Third Party Liability
Chapter 8 The Right of a Utility to Condition Utility Service on Land ownership
Chapter 9 Tenants' Rights Where Landlord Fails to Pay Utility
Chapter 10 Tenants' Rights Where Landlord Requests Utility Disconnection Chapter
11 Mobile Homes
Chapter 12 Utilities and Bankruptcy
Chapter 13 Master-Metering Cost Allocation Systems and Regulation of Resale
Chapter 14 Erroneous Billing and Unauthorized Use
Chapter 15 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Chapter 16 Payment Assistance for Utility Bills
Chapter 17 Weatherization Protections for Low-Income Tenants
Chapter 18 Utility Subsidies in Subsidized Housing
Chapter 19 Telecommunications Services
Chapter 20 Intervenor Funding in Public Utility Regulatory Cases
Appendix A National Utilities Allocation Association Guidelines and Standards
for Utilities Allocation Systems
Appendix B PIPPs and Other Energy Assurance Programs
Appendix C LIHEAP Profile
Appendix D Consumer's Guide To Maintaining Utility Service (Appropriate for
Distribution to Clients)
This complete
guide explains how to design, implement, and evaluate the energy conservation
programs of utility companies and why these "Demand-Side Management"
(DSM) programs, utility activities that influence use on the customer's side
of the meter, reduce electricity and gas use and costs. Describes the conservation
needs of low-income households, what programs work to reduce those needs and
how these programs should be financed. Includes a low-income advocates introduction
to electric industry restructuring and retail wheeling with a DSM glossary and
description of statutes and regulations around the country that authorize public
interest intervenors before utility
regulatory commissions to obtain funding.
$60 ($36 nonprofit) 186 pp.
Contents
Part I
Chapter 1 Introduction to Guide
Chapter 2 Introduction to Rate Making
Chapter 3 DSM and Least Cost Planning
Part II Cost-Effectiveness
Chapter 4 Benefit-Cost Analysis For Low-Income DSM: An Overview
Chapter 5 Understanding Traditional Avoided Costs
Chapter 6 Expanded "Avoided Costs" From Low-Income DSM
Chapter 7 Expanded "Avoided Costs" From Low-Income DSM: Working
Capital
Chapter 8 Expanded "Avoided Costs" From Low-Income DSM: Inability-to-Pay
Externalities
Chapter 9 Discount Rates: Tools to Help Make Fair Comparisons Between Programs
Chapter 10 Cost-Effective Program Savings Evaluation
Chapter 11 Cost-Effectiveness of DSM Targeted to Low-Income Customers
Part III Cost-Recovery and Impact Issues
Chapter 12 Utility DSM Incentives and Low-Income Households
Chapter 13 Lost Base Revenues: Decoupling and Other Revenues
Chapter 14 Barriers to Low-Income Participation in DSM and Conservation
Chapter 15 How to Overcome Adverse Impacts of Poorly Designed Portfolio
Part IV Program Design
Chapter 16 DSM Program Design that Overcomes Barriers
Chapter 17 How Utility DSM Can Fill Gaps Left by the Weatherization Assistance
Program
Chapter 18 Coordinating the Weatherization Assistance Program With Utility-Financed
DSM
Chapter 19 The Low-Income Interest in Fuel Switching
Chapter 20 Setting Funding Levels for Low-Income Utility DSM
Chapter 21 Incentives for Low-Income Customers to Maximize Energy Efficiency
Chapter 22 Utility-Financed DSM and Deferred Payment Plans
Chapter 23 DSM and Discounted Utility Rates for Low-Income Customers
Part V The Future of DSM for Low-Income Customers
Chapter 24 A Comprehensive, Pro-Active, Low-Income DSM Agenda
Chapter 25 Identifying Low-Income Constituencies for Utility DSM
Chapter 26 Energy Efficiency and the Low-Income Housing Manager/Developer
Chapter 27 The Environmentalists' Interest in Bill Reduction for Low-Income
Customers
Chapter 28 Intervenor Funding in Public Utility Rate Cases
Chapter 29 Industry Restructuring, Deregulation and the Future of DSM and
Low-Income Rates
Appendix A Glossary of Terms
Appendix B A Sample Low-Use Residential DSM Program Design with Community
Involvement and Gas/Electric Synergies: "Efficient Electric Company-Energy
Fitness/Gas Piggyback Program-Program Design And
Budget"
Energy & the Poor: The Crisis Continues (1995)
A comprehensive state-by-state analysis of the overwhelming energy burden
carried by the nation's low-income households, including the elderly, the
disabled, the working poor, and households with children. The startling results
of this report update NCLC's 1989 study, Energy and the Poor — The Forgotten
Crisis, and show that the energy crisis facing low-income Americans is an
enduring one. Presented with 42 tables and graphs, this breakthrough study
examines the current and past predicament facing over 20 million low-income
Americans with unaffordable energy bills. The report details, state-by-state,
low-income energy expenditures, income levels of poor households and LIHEAP
assistance. $40 ($20 nonprofit) 98 pp.
Contents
Chapter I Historical Context:
The Problem of High Energy Burdens Is Not Improving
Chapter II Current Low-Income Energy Burdens
Chapter III The Impact of LIHEAP on Low-Income Households
Chapter IV Energy Costs and the Southern States
Chapter V Other Forms of Energy Payment Support
Tables and Graphs
Table 1 - Energy Price Increases/Poverty Threshold Increases, 1979-1993
Table 2 - Energy Price Increases for All States, 1970-1991
Table 3 - Low-Income Household Energy Expenditures, 1988-1992
Table 4 - Historical Analysis of Energy Burden for AFDC, SSI (Couples), &
Minimum Wage
Table 5 - Energy Price Increases/AFDC Benefits Increases, 1979-1993
Table 6 - Energy Price Increases/Federal SSI(1) Benefits Increases, 1979-1993
Table 7 - Energy Price Increases/Federal SSI(2) Benefits Increases, 1979-1993
Table 8 - Energy Price Increases/Social Security Benefits Increases (Retired
Workers), 1979-1993
Table 9 - Energy Price Increases/Minimum Wage Increases, 1979-1993
Table 10 - 1992 Energy Expenditures; Comparison of Low Income to Average Households
Table 11 - 1992 Energy Expenditures; Burden on Median Income Households
Table 12 - 1992 Monthly Energy Costs; Burden on AFDC Families
Table 13 - Adequacy of AFDC Benefit: Comparison to Need Standard and Poverty
Threshold
Table 14 - 1992 Monthly Energy Costs; Burden on SSI Couples
Table 15 - 1992 Monthly Energy Costs; Burden on SSI Individuals
Table 16 - 1992 Monthly Energy Costs; Burden on Social Security Recipients
Table 17 - 1992 Monthly Energy Costs; Burden on Minimum Wage Households
Table 18 - Monthly Energy, Water & Sewer Costs: Burden on AFDC Recipients
Table 19 - Monthly Energy, Water & Sewer Costs: Burden on SSI (Individual)
Recipients
Table 20 - LIHEAP Benefits and Energy Costs, 1988-1992 - Historical Analysis
Table 21 - LIHEAP Benefits and Energy Costs, 1992
Table 22 - LIHEAP's Effect on Burden on AFDC Families
Table 23 - LIHEAP's Effect on Burden on SSI Individuals
Table 24 - LIHEAP's Effect on Burden on SSI Couples
Table 25 - LIHEAP's Effect on Burden on Social Security Households; Retired
Workers
Table 26 - LIHEAP's Effect on Burden on Social Security Households; Nondisabled
Widows and Widowers
Table 27 - LIHEAP's Effect on Burden on Minimum Wage Earners
Table 28 - Low-Income Households with Heat Interruptions, Due to Inability
to Pay
Table 29 - The Northern & Southern Energy Comparison; Impact of Primary
Fuels Used and Costs of Fuels Between States
Table 30 - The Northern & Southern Energy Comparison; Effect of LIHEAP
Award on Low-Income Burden
Figure 1 - Energy Price Increases Compared to Poverty Threshold Increases
Figure 2 - Energy Price Increases Compared to AFDC Benefits Increases
Figure 3 - Energy Price Increases Compared to SSI (Individual) Benefits Increases
Figure 4 - Energy Price Increases Compared to SSI (Couples) Benefits Increases
Figure 5 - Energy Price Increases Compared to Social Security (Retired Workers)
Benefit Increases
Figure 6 - Energy Price Increases Compared to Increases in Minimum Wage
Figure 7 - A Closer Look at the Home Energy Burden for a Family of Three Receiving
AFDC in Mississippi
Figure 8 - Monthly Income Remaining After Energy Costs
Figure 9 - Impact of Water Costs on Low-Income SSI Households
Figure 10 - Impact of Water Costs on Low-Income AFDC Households
Figure 11 - LIHEAP Profile
Figure 12 - Energy Burdens on AFDC Families Before and After LIHEAP; Selected
States
The Energy Affordability Crisis of Older Americans: An Examination of the Hazards to Health and Well-being Posed by the Growing
Incidence of Unmet Home Energy Needs (1995)
This report compiles a comprehensive statistical demographic profile of older
Americans and discusses the relative burden that home energy payments place
on older Americans, by source of income in all 50 states. The study identifies
the hazards of extreme heat and cold to older Americans who cannot afford access
to sufficient energy services, using both available medical information on weather-related
hazards and a national literature search of media reports of deaths due
to conditions of extreme heat or cold. As the country considers the future
of its energy and welfare policies, the facts in this report should assist in developing
a humane response to the continuing energy crisis confronting the elderly. $25 ($15 nonprofit) 68 pp.
Contents
CHAPTER
I
Profile of the Older American Population
1.1 The Elderly Population is Growing
1.2 Incomes of the Elderly Have Historically Been Low
1.3 Poverty and the Elderly Population
1.4 Living Situations of the Elderly Make Energy Payments Especially Problematic
1.5 Conclusion: Poverty Continues to Grip the Elderly
CHAPTER II
The Burden of Energy Costs on Older Americans
2.1 Average Energy Bills for the Elderly
2.2 Energy Costs and Households with Median Income: Setting the Stage
2.3 Energy Costs and the Elderly Poor and Disabled: SSI Households
2.4 Energy Costs and Social Security Recipients
2.5 The Impact of LIHEAP on Energy Bills
2.6 Energy Costs and the Southern States
2.7 Conclusion: Energy Bills are a Significant and Often Unaffordable Portion
of the Elderly's Expenditures
CHAPTER III
Deadly Effects of Cold and Heat on the Elderly Poor
3.1 Hypothermia and Hyperthermia: Weather-Induced Fatal Health Conditions
3.2 Cases and Media Coverage of Weather-Related Shutoffs and Resulting Illnesses,
Homelessness, and Deaths
3.3 The Situation is Not Hopeless: Remedies Do Exist
3.4 Conclusion: Unaffordable Energy Bills Cause Deaths Among Older Americans
41
Appendix I
Appendix II
Bibliographies
Chronological Bibliography of Newspaper Articles
Bibliography of Statistical Sources
The Regulation of Rural Electric Cooperatives (1993)
This is a ground-breaking work that surveys a broad range of legal protections
for customers of
unregulated RECs and municipals utilities involving shut-offs, deposits, late
charges, and other service
issues. The strategies listed may also apply to other unregulated utilities
such as municipal water, gas, and electric companies. examines laws generally
applicable to non-utility transactions to determine what applicability
they might have to protect against unnecessary or unreasonable threats to utility
service. Millions of REC consumers of do not benefit from the customer
service regulations of state public utility commissions. Rather than leave
these consumers unprotected, the laws generally applicable to non-utility transactions
are examined to determine what applicability they might have to protect against
unnecessary or unreasonable threats to electric service. $60 ($36 nonprofit) 208 pages.
Contents
Chapter 1 RECs as Public
Utilities
Chapter 2 Cracking the Historical "Special Treatment" of RECs
Chapter 3 Monopolies Providing an Essential Service
Chapter 4 The Common Law Duty to Serve
Chapter 5 Unlawful Disconnections as a Tort
Chapter 6 Common Law Contract Principles
Chapter 7 The Uniform Commercial Code
Chapter 8 Consumer Protection Statutes
Chapter 9 Consumer Bankruptcies
Chapter 10 Constitutional Doctrine
Chapter 11 Federal Civil Rights Legislation
Chapter 12 Use of LIHEAP Vendor Contracts
Chapter 13 The Common Law of Voluntary Associations
Chapter 14 The Relevance of State P.U.C. Regulations to "Regulating"
RECs
Chapter 15 Conclusion
and NCLC