The Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg. (Commonwealth Media Services photo)
The state Senate passed a bill with bipartisan support Monday to reenact an expired law that provided protection for low-income Pennsylvanians who are unable to pay their utility bills.
The law, known as Chapter 14, barred private utility companies from shutting off services to customers who are behind on their bills in the winter, between Dec. 1 and March 31, and laid out timelines for repayment payment plans based on income. The law also provided other consumer protections, such as requiring multiple notices before a company could turn off electric, gas or water services, and allowing delinquent customers to get medical waivers to temporarily require companies to keep their utilities connected.
“Chapter 14 was enacted to create clear and workable guidelines for utilities to give a hand-up to customers who needed one, customers who truly struggled to pay their bills,” said. Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-Northampton), the bill’s sponsor.
Advocates for poor Pennsylvanians, however, say the law cut both ways. It was initially passed with the support of utility companies who sought more power to collect unpaid bills.
Along with the consumer protections it provided, it largely stripped the Public Utility Commission of its ability to create individualized payment plans for low-income Pennsylvanians facing utility shut-off. Those could extend beyond the terms set by Chapter 14, which range from six months to five years, depending on household income. The law also allowed utility companies to require security deposits from customers who fall behind, and charge others fees on top of their debts.
Boscola said the law “balanced the needs of utilities and customers.”
First passed in 2004, Chapter 14 required reenactment by the legislature every 10 years. It expired last December after the Democrat-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate were unable to agree on changes to the law they wanted to make. However, the Public Utility Commission voted to maintain its protections until the legislature could come to an agreement on how to reenact it.
Boscola said that, before Chapter 14 was passed, “too many customers that were otherwise able to pay were taking advantage of a very loose process with the PUC to avoid paying what they owed … Rate payers and utilities alike suffered from this slipshod process.”
When a utility company is unable to collect debts owed to them, the cost is divided amongst their customers. Boscola said that in her district, in PPL service territory, unpaid bills currently exceed $155 million, costing the average household over $150 annually.
The version that passed the Senate today largely left the previous law untouched, though it would extend the timeframe for payment arrangements to up to six years based on income, as well as the amount of time that a medical waiver could prevent a utility company from cutting off services.
All 28 Republicans, and most Democrats, voted in favor of the bill. But seven Democrats, largely from the party’s progressive wing, voted against it. The bill will also have to pass the House, where lawmakers shut down a similar proposal last year in favor of their own that would have added even more customer protections.
Speaking on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, Sen. Katie Muth (D-Montgomery) praised some of the changes to Chapter 14 in Boscola’s bill, such as extending the timeframe for payment arrangements and how long a medical waiver can grant a reprieve from utility shut-off. But she urged her colleagues to add further protections, adding that many Pennsylvanians are struggling with the cost of food, medicine and other basic needs.
“This legislation does not go far enough to protect consumers, and particularly low-income Pennsylvanians,” Muth said on the floor. She noted that in 2024, over 352,000 Pennsylvania households had one of their utilities shut off according to data from the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project, a 15% increase from the previous year.
She advocated for including a summer moratorium on shut-offs, in addition to the existing winter one, because of the health impacts of excessive heat. She also proposed allowing for more individualized payment plans and barring utility companies from charging additional fines to customers who fall behind, such as reconnection fees for households that have already had utilities turned off.
Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia), however, urged other Democrats to accept the bill as is.
“I love the laundry list of protections that my colleague recommended,” Street said about Muth’s recommendations. “However, this bill, while it may not solve all problems, it is better than the current state of the law.”
Street noted that, since the law expired in December, its previous protections only stand because the Public Utility Commission voted to maintain them. A future Public Utility Commission, he said, could as easily vote to strip them. Commission members are appointed by the governor.
“These protections last for 10 years,” Street said. “That’s longer than any one governor.”