Energy, Utilities, & Telecommunications

Utility Consumer Protections & Bill Payment Assistance

Utility affordability programs and consumer protections help keep consumers connected to utility service during financial hardships. Discount rates, percentage of income payment programs (PIPPs), and arrearage management programs help keep bills affordable. Protections from utility shut-offs due to weather, illness, or other conditions save lives and protect medically vulnerable consumers. NCLC works to improve and expand utility consumer protections and bill payment assistance programs.

Featured

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Comments to NASEO’s IRA Rebates RFI Regarding Essential Consumer Protections

May 19, 2023

Overly Impacted & Rarely Heard: Incorporating Community Voices Into Massachusetts Energy Regulatory Process

May 4, 2023

Group Convened by Massachusetts AG’s Office Releases Recommendations to Improve Public Participation in Energy Proceedings

May 4, 2023

The Boston Globe: “With new report, AG Campbell calls for more public participation in key energy decisions”

May 4, 2023

Handout: Utility Consumer Rights Course

April 20, 2023

Utility Help in Massachusetts

April 19, 2023

Risks of Utility Shutoffs Are Rising in Massachusetts

April 10, 2023

Group Letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee RE: the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP)

April 5, 2023

Coalition of Chicago, Illinois, and National Community-Based Groups Propose the People’s Utility Rate Relief Act

March 2, 2023

Comments & Letters

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Group Letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee RE: the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP)

April 5, 2023

Comments to the Public Service Commission of Maryland Regarding Retail Gas and Electric Supply Offers to Low Income Customers

October 19, 2022

Group Comments on Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Furnaces

October 6, 2022

NCLC and NRDC Comments Regarding Expedited OMB Review and Public Comment on Low Income Household Water Assistance Program Data Collection

December 21, 2021

Group Letter to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia regarding Appalachian and Wheeling Power Companies

September 23, 2021

Letter to U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Regarding Implementation of the Low-Income Drinking Water and Wastewater Emergency Assistance Program

February 10, 2021

Letter Regarding Best Practices During MA Resumption of Shutoff Activities

April 10, 2020

Response in the matter of Moratorium on Disconnection of Utility Services during the public health emergency declared on March 9, 2020

April 6, 2020

Joint Comments on Tier 2 Proposal to Eliminate the Customer Account Number Requirement

April 2, 2020

Reports

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COVID-Driven Utility Arrearages: Implications for Policy in Massachusetts and the Nation

February 23, 2021

Report: Protecting Seriously Ill Consumers from Utility Disconnections: What States Can Do to Save Lives Now

Electric Service Discount and Arrearage Management Program Design Template

April 14, 2020

Overly Impacted & Rarely Heard: Incorporating Community Voices Into Massachusetts Energy Regulatory Process

May 4, 2023

More Can & Must Be Done to Prevent Utility Consumers from Losing Service Due to Mounting COVID-Driven Arrearages in Massachusetts and Other States

November 15, 2021

Report: Lean and Green – The Massachusetts Low-Income Energy Affordability Network (LEAN)

November 10, 2014

Helping Low-Income Utility Customers Manage Overdue Bills through Arrearage Management Programs (AMP)

September 17, 2013

Report: Low Income Weatherization

November 29, 2012

Full Utility Credit Reporting: Risks to Low Income Consumers

December 8, 2009

Issue Briefs

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What States Can Do to Help Consumers: Energy Insecurity

January 30, 2020

Massachusetts Residential Utility Customers Still Owe Nearly $100M More in Arrears than at the Start of the Pandemic

February 15, 2022

Innovative State Actions on Residential Utility Bill Payment Protections During COVID-19 & Beyond

September 16, 2020

Risks of Utility Shutoffs Are Rising in Massachusetts

April 10, 2023

Tariff-based On-Bill Financing: Assessing the Risks for Low-Income Consumers 

February 14, 2023

New Illinois Metric Is a Model for Reducing Utility Disconnections in Under-Resourced Communities 

December 8, 2022

COVID-driven Arrearages & Rising Energy Prices Increase Risk of Utility Shutoffs

November 8, 2022

Fact Sheet: Consumer Protections and the Affordable Connectivity Program

June 28, 2022

Apply Now for up to $30 a Month for Broadband Service with the Affordable Connectivity Program

February 22, 2022

Testimony

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Testimony in Support of HB 260—Residential Electricity and Gas Supply Billing Information—Reports

February 5, 2022

Testimony of Jen Bosco: Hearing on Senate Bill 31 – Electricity and Gas – Energy Suppliers – Supply Offers

January 29, 2021

Testimony Regarding FY2021 Appropriation for the Health and Human Services’ Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

May 22, 2020

Testimony of NCLC Before the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations Regarding FY 2021 Appropriations for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

March 23, 2020

Testimony in Support of HB 982, Public Utilities—Low-Income and Middle-Income Housing—Energy Performance Targets

February 27, 2020

Testimony in Support of MD S.B. 681, Comprehensive Protections for Residential Consumers

February 25, 2020

Testimony in Support of MD S.B. 685, Electricity and Gas—Energy Suppliers—Assisted Customers

February 25, 2020

Testimony in Support of MD S.B. 686, Residential Electricity and Gas Supply Billing Information—Reports

February 11, 2020

FY 2020 Appropriations for the HHS Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

June 3, 2019

Press Releases

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Group Convened by Massachusetts AG’s Office Releases Recommendations to Improve Public Participation in Energy Proceedings

May 4, 2023

Coalition of Chicago, Illinois, and National Community-Based Groups Propose the People’s Utility Rate Relief Act

March 2, 2023

More Massachusetts Residents Fall Behind on Utilities, With Record Winter Bills on the Way 

November 8, 2022

U.S. Consumers Will Save $30 Billion with Proposed Residential Gas Furnace Standards

June 13, 2022

Report: COVID-Driven Utility Debt Rises in Massachusetts, Urgent Action Needed to Keep the Heat On

November 15, 2021

Key Broadband Affordability Wins in Biden’s Infrastructure Bill

November 8, 2021

Appalachian, Wheeling Power Companies Proposal Will Cause Significant Rate Increases for Low-Income West Virginians

September 24, 2021

New Maryland Law Will Protect Low-Income Families from Overpriced Electricity and Gas 

June 7, 2021

LDF and NCLC Urge DeKalb County, Georgia, to Delay Lifting Water Disconnection Moratorium, Implement Stronger Protections Against Shutoffs

May 26, 2021

From the NCLC Digital Library

Access to Utility Service

NCLC’s treatise on delivery of water, electricity, gas, and telecommunications, with everything a practitioner needs to know on metering, payments, telecommunications, and assistance programs.

Read Chapter One

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