PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Pennsylvania initiates a vicious attack on the poor
by stephen donahue Thursday, Jul. 21, 2005 at 11:30 AM

Four dead so far thanks to dirty new law passed by the PA General Assembly and signed by Gov. Rendell.

Legislative acts which defy common decency are often carried out by politicians under the cover of darkness. Recently for example lawmakers waited until the wee hours of the morning on the last day of the spring session to pass themselves a big fat pay raise. But much worse than this was an act done by the state legislature a few months earlier. On November 19, 2004 in the confusion and hazy darkness of the last day of a lame duck session the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 677, a.k.a. “The Responsible Utility Customer Protection Act.”

At the expressed request of lobbyists from the Energy Association of Pennsylvania and other gas and electric providers this bill, now simply referred to as Chapter14 was passed in near secrecy and with absolutely no public comment.

Why did the fat cat gas and electric interests want no public comment? Why such a veil of secrecy? Well they knew that the public might be outraged to hear about a new state law that would make it easy as hell for them to cut off people’s gas and electricity even in the cold of mid winter. Before Chapter 14 the PA Public Utility Commission (PUC) prevented most winter time utility shut offs. The idea behind this was to prevent people from freezing to death in their homes. Not any more. Now state law makers who enjoy a compensation package worth well over $100 thousand a year are telling low wage earners to pay up or risk freezing.

Under the provisions of Chapter 14 utilities can cut service without PUC approval during the winter time to customers whose annual income is 2.5 times the federal poverty level. For those who don’t know, 2.5 times the federal poverty level is not a lot of dough. People earning that kind of money can suffer a lot when some unforeseen event like serious illness comes to their household.

So how has this played out? The Pennsylvania Electric Company (Penelec) which operates in parts of central PA increased its terminations by 164 % between January and April of 2005. On May 11, 2005 Penelec cut off service to a household in Hastings, PA which is a small town in rural Cambria County. On May 14 a candle being used in the house started a fire which destroyed the home and killed four who lived there including three children. Oh well, that is four less “deadbeats” the utility has to carry.

The award for service cut offs however goes to Equitable Gas Company of western PA. During the first four months of 2004, Equitable Gas cut service to two (2) households. During the first four months of 2005 they did the same to 3,287 households for a 16,425% increase!

Easy service cut offs are not the only atrocity provided for by Chapter 14. Before Chapter 14 became law the PUC often acted to mediate payment plans between low income customers and the electric and gas companies. Not any more however as the PUC is forbidden to negotiate payment plans for households that earn 1.5 times the federal poverty level and less. That is right less.

As a result of this provision since the start of 2005 the PUC has turned away over 19,000 people asking for negotiated payment plans with their utility companies. In the first several months of 2004 the PUC turned away 1,700 people.

Since Chapter 14 became the law in PA, many thousands have had to deal with an extra financial hardship. Thousands of others have lost their gas and electric service and so far four people have died as a direct result of this new law. The utility companies and their lobbyists on the other hand are as happy as pigs in slop about this new law. They are bragging about no longer having to carry “deadbeats.”

By going along with the greedy gas and electric companies and passing this heartless law our state legislators and Governor Rendell merit total contempt. The secretive and undemocratic process used to pass this legislation indicates that they knew that what they were doing was wrong. Our state law makers are a bunch of cowards.

Demand the repeal of Chapter 14, “The Responsible Utility Customer Protection Act.” It is undemocratic and it is a vicious attack on the poor and low income residents of this so called commonwealth.

Thanks to The Patriot News (Harrisburg) and to reporter David DeKok for the specifics contained in this article. The opinions however are all mine.