The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)1 helps low-income households pay for home heating bills in the winter and cooling bills in the summer. LIHEAP also helps eligible households resolve energy crises, for example, by fixing a broken furnace or making an emergency payment to avert an imminent disconnection during frigid winters or…
SB 905 would establish one-on-one support for low-income seniors aged 60-years of age and older to help them successfully apply for energy assistance. SB 905 would require the Office of Home Energy Programs (OHEP), which administers the Maryland Energy Assistance Program (MEAP, also known as the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)), to…
Voluntary and mandatory moratoriums on utility shut-offs adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have expired or will soon expire in states across the country. Utility regulators and other policymakers must act now to require more flexible and generous utility bill payment practices in order to avoid a tidal wave of terminations of essential utility…
This issue brief updates two reports the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) previously released in February and November 2021 analyzing arrearage data reported by Massachusetts electric and gas companies to the Department of Public Utilities in docket 20-58.2 While, overall, utility customers are in a somewhat improved position compared to the summer of 2021, over…
As the health, safety, and economic impacts of the Covid-19 crisis become increasingly clear, the need to universally adopt programs and policies that enhance the affordability of necessary utility service is also highlighted. To win approval of programs and policies to enhance secure access to home energy services, advocates must “make the case” for program…
Read More about Electric Service Discount and Arrearage Management Program Design Template
The COVID-19 crisis placed millions of Americans in financial peril, hitting households of color particularly hard. In response, moratoriums on utility shutoffs were instituted in many states across the country to protect customers from the immediate danger of termination. However, some states’ moratoriums have already expired, or, were never instituted in the first place, meaning…
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Each year, millions of utility customers have their service terminated for non-payment. Many of those are low-income households in which someone is seriously ill. In extreme cases, termination of service to those households has led to death. Much more frequently, loss of electric or gas service makes existing illnesses or conditions worse. Utility…
The Need For Racial Justice in Utility Billing, Credit and Collections 100% Network Webinar on Energy Security in the Wake of the Coronavirus
Read More about PowerPoint: Disparate Energy Insecurity Impacts
NCLC has been actively involved in advocacy for consumers who have been financially harmed by alternative (or competitive) energy supply companies. We have released a report and an issue brief which both described the common abusive sales practices and inflated prices which have harmed so many Massachusetts consumers, with a particular emphasis on the unfair…
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