On June 18, the Associated Press reported, the Public Utility Commission rejected an attempt by Republican Commissioner John Coleman to end the termination moratorium put in place in March by the PUC in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.

The motion failed on a vote of 2 to 2 [there is currently a vacancy on the Commission] with the panel’s Democrats opposing the motion and the panel’s Republicans backing it.

Commissioner Coleman’s motion would have allowed non-natural gas utilities-- electric, water, sewer and telephone-- to begin termination for non-paying customers on July 1.

The number of natural gas customers eligible for terminations this year is about the same as last year.

In making the motion, Commissioner Coleman said Gov. Wolf’s emergency declaration could end at any time and was being challenged in court.

The PUC’s March termination moratorium order does not halt collection activities by utilities.

NewsClip:

AP: Utility Regulator Keep Moratorium On Service Terminations

Related Articles This Week - PUC:

PUC Distributes Over $200 Million In Act 13 Drilling Impact Fees; A Sharp Drop Of $51.5 Million From Last Year

PUC Implements Phase IV Of Act 129 Energy Efficiency Program To Reduce Energy Use; Studies Show Could Save Consumers $3 Billion

PUC Damage Prevention Committee Fines Underground Facility Owners, Excavators and Project Owners $119,000 For Violations

[Posted: June 20, 2020]

6/22/2020