| GENERAL
SUMMARY
Senate
Bill 677, known as the Responsible
Utility Customer Protection Act (Act 201 of
2004) and effective December 14, 2004, is an
effort to protect consumers of
electric, gas and water utilities that are
responsible customers who pay their bills,
and pay them on time.
These
responsible customers increasingly find
themselves with the unfair burden of having
to pay higher-and-higher bills as public
utilities are forced to shift to them costs
incurred to serve customers who do not pay
their bills.
To
remedy this problem, SB 677 modernizes
customer service and collections rules that
have become antiquated and obsolete.
SB 677 provides new tools to public utilities
that will eliminate opportunities for
customers capable of paying to evade the
timely payment of their public utility
bills. Under
the legislation, utility service will remain
available to all customers on reasonable
terms and conditions. Programs like Customer
Assistance Programs (CAP) (which
provide service to low-income consumers at
reduced rates) and Low Income
Usage Reduction Programs (LIURP)
(which provide weatherization grants to
low-income consumers) ... which are
unmatched by other energy providers
...will remain in
place as safety nets for utility
consumers.
Customers
who timely pay their bills are not
impacted by this legislation.
Rather, this legislation focuses on changing
the behavior of those who utilize chicanery,
fraud, and deception to avoid payment for
the utility service that they receive.
Additional
information
Senate Bill 677 (Act 201 of 2004)
Notice
to Customers (Pennsylvania
Public Utility Commission-approved
notice to residential customers)
PUC
Consumer Fact Sheet
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