In Watershed Moment, CUB Protects Utility Customers Impacted by COVID-19

At a September 24, 2020 Special Public Meeting, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) endorsed three agreements to protect energy, water, and telecommunications utility customers impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The PUC’s endorsement is a critical milestone in Oregon’s response to the pandemic. The regulated utilities, CUB, and other stakeholders are now poised to sign the agreements to memorialize nation-leading protections for customers.

Key immediate protections for customers of regulated energy utilities include:

• A disconnection moratorium through the 2020-2021 winter heating season
• Suspensions of customer security deposits, as well as late fees, disconnection fees, and reconnection fees through at least October of 2022
• At least $39 million for direct forgiveness of customers’ past due balances accrued during the disconnection moratorium
• An agreement to increase low-income customer bill payment assistance programs

The PUC launched its investigation of utility customer impacts in June. CUB helped shape this debate by submitting a COVID-19 Energy Utility Customer Protection Plan. CUB’s plan reflected our view that a once-in-a-century health and economic crisis demands bold thinking to inform once-in-a-century policy responses and we believe strongly that the virus must determine timing decisions. While we can make some assumptions about Oregon’s economic and public health projections, we cannot predict what exactly the future holds.

After an initial meeting on June 9, the PUC held six workshops from June 30 to September 15. The utilities, CUB, and a handful of other groups – including Community Action Partnership of Oregon, Community Energy Project, Multnomah County, Northwest Energy Coalition, and Verde – offered consistent consumer protection input on agreements for the agency’s three areas of regulatory influence: energy, water, and telecommunications. Due to significant differences among the PUC’s three regulatory arenas*, CUB’s comprehensive residential utility customer plan focused on the energy sector.

The PUC’s September 24 Special Public Meeting finalized its COVID-19 customer impact process. PUC Staff summarized the energy, water, and telecommunications customer impact agreements. After review by the Commissioners, the agreements now serve as the formal basis for Oregon’s response to COVID-19’s ongoing impacts on customers of regulated utilities. The final step is for CUB, the utilities, and other stakeholders to sign the agreements for adoption by the PUC.

The energy customer impact agreement includes most of the elements in CUB’s proposal. At the September 24 meeting, Commissioner Mark Thompson referred to the public release of CUB’s COVID-19 Energy Utility Customer Protection Plan as a “watershed moment.”

The first and perhaps most important element in the agreement is a strict service disconnection moratorium through the 2020-2021 winter heating season. Before the utilities can potentially resume disconnections in 2021, they must conduct robust outreach to customers with past due amounts, and then work with these customers to ensure that they maintain their service and can stay on top of their current bills. The utilities must also offer long-term, zero-interest payment plans and raise at least $39 million to cover a portion of customers’ past due amounts.

The energy customer impact agreement further outlines commitments from both the utilities and consumer groups to increase low-income customer bill-payment assistance. The agreement also suspends customer security deposits, as well as late fees, disconnection fees, and reconnection fees through at least October of 2022. There are also enhanced reporting requirements for the regulated energy utilities.

In addition to these immediate actions, the PUC will open a formal investigation to develop an environmental justice and social equity lens, and prioritize implementation of policies to mitigate differential energy burden and other social inequities. This includes rate design options and the formation of an advisory committee comprised of community-based organizations and other consumer groups to inform PUC processes and policies.

The total package of policies and commitments for the utilities and the PUC is not perfect. However, both the PUC Staff and the utilities deserve credit for coming to the table and negotiating in good faith to reach a conclusion that CUB believes will stave off some of the worst economic consequences that would otherwise be imposed on the most vulnerable customers of Oregon’s regulated utilities.

The PUC’s moderation of this historic discussion to negotiate a comprehensive set of policy responses was also challenging, particularly for community-based groups less familiar with the PUC. But customers of Oregon’s regulated utilities should rest easier knowing that CUB and the other consumer groups worked tirelessly for nearly four months to advocate for their interests and arrive at a watershed moment in Oregon’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

*Municipalities manage and regulate most Oregon water utilities. The PUC regulates private water utilities that are typically small and serve specific housing developments. The PUC regulates traditional telephone service provided by large telecommunications utilities like CenturyLink (now Lumen), Frontier (now Ziply), and several smaller rural utilities. The PUC does not regulate broadband internet access service.

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