Power shut-offs double, regulators seek to make utilities ensure poor families get hardship protection Josh Kovner, Hartford Courant, Dec 12, 2019 ...The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s proposed decision, issued Wednesday, surprised and delighted advocates who’ve been trying to get hardship protection for tens of thousands of people who are eligible but whose status hasn’t been properly recognized, or “coded,” by the utilities. PURA has asked the two major power companies to prepare a script that call centers would use when talking to customers to determine and recognize hardship eligibility; to prepare single-page, straightforward explanations on hardship criteria; and to hold community meetings, at night, in the neighborhoods where the people who need the information and assistance the most are located. “It’s an extraordinary decision. They heard us. It reflects what PURA’s new priorities will be," said lawyer Bonnie Roswig of the Center for Children’s Advocacy in Hartford. In a case earlier this week, a Hartford-area mother with a sick child had her utilities disconnected over a delinquency of $185, Roswig said. When the mother spoke with Eversource on the phone about the disconnection, there was no discussion about her eligibility for hardship protection… read story | |
