Utility shutoff

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* New Pgh Courier coverage by Christian Morrow on Legislature's sneaky passing of the Utility Shutoff Bill.
* Could endanger senior citizens as temperatures fall.
* SB 689, allows gas and electricity PUC providers to terminate residential service without PUC approval did not pass three times. Gov. Ed Rendell said he would not sign it.
* The bill was attached to another bill (SB 677), amending PUC regulation of telecommunications and passed in the dead of night Nov. 19, 2004.
Protections against service terminations for households with elderly, sick residents or young children have been eliminated. Elected officials knew what they were voting for. Protections stripped away by lobbyists with no hearings or public input.
===State Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Lawrenceville, a long-time consumer advocate said===
The issue was driven by the problems of the Philadelphia Gas Works, and now consumers across the state will pay for it.
â€œThis legislation was incredibly misguided, it is very reactionary and anti-consumer rights,â€? he said. â€œIt has gutted protections that have been in place for 40 years. The governor caved to the utility companies and not withstanding the change in bill numbers, people knew what they were voting for.â€?
Ferlo said he tried to eliminate some of the more onerous provisions, but will have to introduce amendments in January.
â€œAs a consumer advocate in the 1970s I was part of the group who got the winter shutoff ban as part of the PUC code,â€? he said. â€œIâ€™m very disappointed to see these protections stripped away by lobbyists with no hearings or public input.â€?