Accommodating measures, including suspensions of power cuts, are also being granted by Ameren, Evergy, FirstEnergy, Georgia Power, NV Energy, PECO, Southern California Edison, Xcel Energy and others, according to the Edison Electric Institute.
Government bodies have mandated a suspension of power and gas supply cuts to non-paying customers statewide California, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. Meanwhile, West Virginia regulators are merely “urging” utilities to suspend such disconnections.
Covid-19 relief package
The relief measures came into force after 16 Democratic U.S. Senators urged the Senate leaders to adopt a third Covid-19 relief package that includes the nationwide suspension of all utility disconnections as well as a waiver for late fees.
These suspensions are advocated to cover all homeowners and businesses, and should remain “in place at least until the pandemic threat has passed and the country’s economy has stabilized.”
However, not all utilities have been clear as to how they handle customer relief policies. NRG Energy, with service territory across multiple states, issued a statement saying that it extended its “ongoing support to those who may need us,” but offered no comments on updates to its disconnection policies.
In Michigan, Consumers Energy is helping only certain customer classes. “We are suspending shutoffs for non-pay for low-income and senior customers beginning March 16 through April 5, 2020,” said Director of Media Relations Katie Carey. “Senior citizens and qualified low-income customers already enrolled in our Winter Protection Program have already had their end dates extended through April 30, 2020, without any additional actions required on their part.”