Oregon Utility Disconnection Moratorium Extended

The COVID-19 public health emergency continues to harm residential utility customers – job losses, Oregon’s economic downturn, and other factors have made it difficult or impossible for many households to keep up with their utility service payments. CUB authored a COVID-19 Energy Utility Customer Projection Plan last summer, which helped pave the way for an agreement that the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) endorsed in September 2020. Key provisions included a moratorium on service disconnections through April 15, 2021, and the creation of a fund to help reduce customers’ past due balances. In February of this year, the PUC made the decision to extend this moratorium at least until June 30.

CUB’s Advocacy for Extending the Current Moratorium
CUB called on the PUC to extend the current moratorium for five key reasons:

1. The pandemic is worse today. Between the first PUC workshop on COVID-19 related customer protection needs, in June 2020, and the PUC’s approval of the agreement in September, the seven-day average for COVID-19 cases stayed close to 250. In February 2021, the seven-day average hovered around 400. Cases have fallen in Oregon since the winter peak, but because they are still higher than at any point before the PUC approved the agreement, the moratorium should remain in place until the pandemic is under control.
2. Emerging COVID-19 variants deserve caution. Variant strains of COVID-19 have emerged abroad and domestically. Public health experts are still learning whether new variants increase transmission and mortality. Until experts better understand if or how the variants affect public health in Oregon, the moratorium should remain in place.
3. COVID-19 harms Black, Indigenous, and other Communities of Color. Non-white Oregonians are twice as likely to become infected with COVID-19 and nine times as likely to be hospitalized as result of COVID-19. Lifting the moratorium prematurely would further harm these same communities.
4. The majority of Oregon students continue to attend school outside of the classroom. As of late February, 450,000 students were still learning from home on either a full-time or partial basis. The moratorium must not be lifted while Oregon students remain unable to attend school in person full-time.
5. Public health authorities recommend quarantine for people exposed to COVID-19. Federal and state public health authorities recommend quarantining after even potential exposure. Oregonians need safe places to quarantine, and the safest place to quarantine is at home. Quarantining at home requires essential utility services.
6. Extending the moratorium is consistent with actions taken in other states. California recently extended its utility service shut-off moratorium until June 30. Washington extended its moratorium until July 31. Oregon was an early leader in its response to COVID-19 and should continue that leadership by extending its moratorium until the public health emergency is under control.

PUC Decision to Extend the Moratorium Beyond April 1
At the PUC’s February 23 public meeting, the Commissioners extended the moratorium until at least June 30. Before doing so, they listened to testimony from CUB, community groups, and energy utilities.

CUB Executive Director Bob Jenks testified that customers’ balances since the start of the pandemic are not traditional “debt.” Thousands of customers are unable to pay their utility (and other) bills due to lost income or health issues from the pandemic. Just as we give regulated utilities the accounting tools to recover from emergencies like wildfires or ice storms, we should also give them the right tools to respond to a once-in-a-century public health emergency.

Groups representing environmental justice communities and Oregonians with low incomes argued for extending the moratorium into 2022. They also stressed that disconnection notices may be effective at convincing some customers to begin payment, but they also carry significant harm and may have unforeseen costs.

The utilities urged caution, raised concern for the growing “debt” among customers, and highlighted their ongoing difficulties reaching customers without the use of disconnection communications.

For their part, PUC Commissioners Decker (Chair), Tawney, and Thompson each expressed their concern for customers, while also weighing the position of the regulated utilities. In the end, in addition to extending the moratorium, they further requested a report from PUC Staff. That report will provide an update to the Commissioners, at a public meeting on May 13, on the progress of utilities’ programs to lower past due balances and the state of the pandemic.

With vaccination schedules progressing across the state, it can be tempting to think we are out of the woods. But the pandemic is not over, and utility customers will need time to recover, along with Oregon’s economy. CUB is keeping a close eye on utility consumer protection needs and will offer updates as they unfold.

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