“Thousands are getting shut off notices today,” said Camilo Viveiros, lead organizer of the George Wiley Center to the 22 people gathered around a table hoping to avoid losing power on May 1, “Over 20,000 people in Rhode Island have their power shut off every year.”
Viveiros and the the George Wiley Center want to prevent unnecessary shut-offs. He talked about the Henry Shelton Act, named for the Rhode Island anti-poverty activist who shepherded a bill through the General Assembly that allows for “more than 50% of utility bills” to be forgiven under certain circumstances.
According to a George Wiley Center handout, “Utility Consumers of Rhode Island have… rights under state law and the Rules and Regulations of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and Division of Public Utilities and Carriers (Division), which have the ‘jurisdiction to grant an exception to the provision of these regulations to any party for good cause shown.’”
If you’re behind on your utility bills, you have the right to “to both an informal hearing and a formal hearing before an impartial Division Hearing Officer. Utility shut-offs are prohibited until this hearing process is complete.” If a deal can not be made to your satisfaction, you have the “right to appeal the final Division hearing decision to Superior Court.”
You have the “right to an affordable payment plan. The Division has the authority to order payment terms which are less stringent than the applicable Residential Payment Plan.”
Further, if a customer is seriously ill, or if there is an infant in the home under the age of 24 months, you have the “right to protection” from a utility shut-off. “A lot of people with medical conditions get shut off in the summer time,” noted Viveiros, “A lot of Rhode Islanders would be shocked by that.”
It can pay to know your rights.
There is “the right for a ‘protected’ class of customers to maintain their gas and electric utility services during the Winter Moratorium from November 1st through April 15th. (Protected status for those who are disabled, LIHEAP recipients, seriously ill, unemployed, households with all over 62 years or children under 2 years.)”
You also have the “right to proper representation from the Consumer Unit of the Attorney General’s Office.”
We don’t have these rights, says Viveiros, “because some corporations decided to be nice to us. We had to fight for them.” Often, cautions a flier, “consumers calling the Division for help are turned away without being informed of their rights or about how to use the law.” Viveiros and the George Wiley Center are trying to fix that problem.
To that end the George Wiley Center has scheduled a series of trainings and will be happy to guide people through the sometimes difficult process of dealing with out of control utility bills. They’ve developed a 10 point plan of action:
When people deal with utility companies unprepared, they will accept deals that only serve to plunge them into deeper debt. Noting that National Grid made $4 billion last year, Viveiros said, “We don’t need people to go home and feel depressed because they don’t have the money to give to people who are doing well.”
A woman told the story of having her electricity turned off. She learned that her gas stove required electricity to work, meaning she couldn’t cook. Her gas heat required electricity, meaning she had no heat. She ended up borrowing money from her children, running the risk of messing up her children’s finances. The woman felt shame, guilt and helplessness, simply because she fell behind on her bills.
No one is poor by choice. It is essential that we know our rights and come together as a community to compel large corporations to treat us with respect and dignity. “We’re trying to create a caring community,” says Viveiros, “where it isn’t all about the bills.”
Contact:
George Wiley Center, 32 East Ave, Pawtucket, RI 02860
cell: 401-338-1665 office: 401-728-5555
“I had my electricity turned off and my heat is unfortunately electric,” she wrote in an email to the Public Utilities Commission.
She’s managed to set aside $2,000 and to collect another $600 from local churches and charities to pay own the debt, she said in her email, but it still isn’t enough to get National Grid to restore her electricity. The utility company often requires customers pay 25 to 50 percent of an outstanding balance bill before it will restore service.
The landmark Henry Shelton Act, passed in 2006, requires utility companies restore service to low income customers if they can pay 10 percent of their bill and pay off the outstanding debt in 36 months. But there are many Rhode Islanders behind on their bills that don’t qualify for this program. And a new administrative rule passed last year requires people to pay down their debt before they can again take advantage of the 10 percent rule.
Camilo Viveiros, an organizer with the George Wiley Center, said there are more than 15,000 people who will have a utility shut off this year. He and others will implore the Public Utilities Commission today at its public meeting (10 am at its headquarters at 89 Jefferson Blvd., in Warwick) to repeal last year’s rule change and allow the 10 percent rule to apply to more low-income people.
“We are hopeful that the Public Utilities Commission will continue their tradition of heeding our request to reduce peoples needed down payments so they can get their utilities turned back on before November 1st, but we also want them to make it possible for more rather than less people to be able to restore their utilities,” he said.
In a press release yesterday, the George Wiley Center said:
“People shouldn’t be penalized for living through prolonged poverty and being in an ongoing economic predicament, for struggling with unemployment, living on fixed incomes due to illness, disabilities or retirement. Although our main demand is to allow people with low incomes to pay 10% down for utility restoration, the GWC opposes barriers that disqualify those who are struggling in this difficult economy.”
The state Division of Public Utilities is recommending last year’s rule stay in place, and it favors a tiered process:
(a) for a customer owing less than $1000, 20% of the balance owed must be paid and the remainder of that balance must be paid within 18 months;
(b) for a customer owing at least $1000 but less than $2500, 15% of the balance owed must be paid and the remainder of that balance must be paid within 24 months;
(c) for a customer owing $2500 or more, 10% of the balance owed must be paid and the remainder of that balance must be paid within 36 months unless the Company chooses to extend such time period;
(d) the customer requesting a payment plan under this provision, Part V, Section 4(G) either did not participate in one of the plans listed in Part V, Section 4(G)(a)-(c) in a prior year or did participate and currently has a balance due on his or her account that is the same or less than that customer had upon enrollment in a prior year plan listed in Part V, Section (4)(G)(a)-(c) unless the customer makes an additional down payment sufficient to bring the customer’s balance to the level equal to or less than the starting balance when the customer previously participated.
And here’s the letter legislative leaders sent the PUC on the issue.
The issue is one the PUC, activists and many low income Rhode Islanders deal with every autumn.
]]>By increasing funding to the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by $1.4 million, Chafee has guaranteed the state an extra $69 million in SNAP funds. According to the Department of Agriculture, the economic multiplier for SNAP is 1.79, so the $69 million will translate into a projected $124 million of GDP. That would be a huge hit to the economy. Stopping it is very big news.
We face a hunger crisis in America. Millions of families struggle to put food on the table. Because of what Lincoln Chafee did, not only will our economy avoid a big hit, fewer Rhode Islanders will go to bed hungry.
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