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Introduced by
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Referred to Committee on
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Date:
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Subject: Public service; regulation of utility corporations; low-income electric
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bill assistance program
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Statement of purpose: This bill proposes to create a statewide electric bill
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payment assistance program for low income residential customers.
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AN ACT RELATING TO A UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND AND
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PAYMENT PROGRAM FOR ESSENTIAL ELECTRICITY SERVICE
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It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
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Sec. 1. 30 V.S.A. § 209c is added to read:
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§ 209c. UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND AND PAYMENT PROGRAM
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(a) Purpose. It is the purpose of this section to:
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(1) Bring participating customers’ bills into the range of affordability;
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(2) Provide incentives for participating customers to make timely
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payments; and
(3) Encourage participating customers to reduce usage and participate in
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conservation and energy efficiency measures that reduce the customers’ bills
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and payment requirements.
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(b) Definitions. For the purposes of this section:
(1) “Administrator” means the public service board or the office or
agency appointed by the board to implement the fair share payment program.
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(2) “Amount overdue” means the amount that an electric company has
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properly billed to a customer that has not been paid in full by the due date of
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the bill or by a date otherwise agreed upon.
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(3) “Eligible customer” means any residential customer of an electric
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company who is taking or is eligible for residential service on a continuing
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year-round basis; and either:
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(A) The customer’s household qualifies for assistance from food
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stamps, Medicaid, TANF, LIHEAP, or programs administered by the office of
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home energy assistance within the agency of human services, pursuant to
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section 25501a of this title; or
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(B) The customer’s household income is at or below 150 percent of
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federal poverty guidelines as defined annually by the U.S. Department of
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Health and Human Services.
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(4) “Universal Service Fund and Payment Program” (USFPP) is a
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statewide program to assist low income customers in paying their electric bills.
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(5) “LIHEAP” means “Low Income Home Energy Assistance
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Program,” which is a federally funded program that provides financial
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assistance grants to needy households for home energy bills and is
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implemented by the office of home energy assistance.
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(6) “Participating customer” means a customer who qualifies, has
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applied, and has been determined to have received a benefit pursuant to the
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USFPP.
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(7) “Pre-program arrears” means a customer’s amount overdue at the
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time the customer is determined to be eligible for the USFPP. This amount
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may consist of a customer’s overdue amount that is currently billed on the
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customer’s account and any prior unpaid debt owed to the electric company,
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but which was not transferred to the customer’s account prior to the
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determination of eligibility for the USFPP.
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(8) “Residential customer” means any person who has applied for, been
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accepted, and is receiving residential service from an electric company. This
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term also includes a person who has previously been a customer of the same
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electric company within the past 30 days and who requests service at the same
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or different location.
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(b) The board shall adopt by rule or order on or before September 30,
2007 an USFPP that:
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(1) Shall not diminish existing levels of financial assistance for low
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income households and meet future increases in need caused by economic
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exigencies.
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(2) Shall be available to eligible low income residential customers
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served by electric companies subject to the jurisdiction of the board. The
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board shall specify by order or rule means by which program applicants shall
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be screened and prioritized for participation in the USFPP.
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(3) Shall be funded by an assessment on the electric companies subject
to the jurisdiction of the board. The funding amount shall be available for
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USFPP benefits, including arrears forgiveness payments, and administrative
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costs incurred by the program administrator. Any incremental administrative
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costs incurred by an electric company shall be eligible for inclusion in the
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company’s next base rate case as an allowable expense. Any changes in the
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program design or budget for the USFPP shall be adopted after notice and
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opportunity for public hearing, and a finding by the board that the changes and
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program budget will ensure that the assistance provided by the USFPP is
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consistent with the needs of participating customers and the reasonable costs of
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the program as reflected in the rates of all ratepayers.
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(4) Shall establish a tiered discount program in which (i) the tiers are
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structured to provide participating customers with a monthly electricity service
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payment equal to 5% of the average income within the tier, (ii) there is a pre-
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program arrears component to ensure bill affordability; and (iii) all collection
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activity on pre-program arrearages of the participants is suspended.
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(6) May establish a minimum credit amount that, if applicable, will
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result in a participant’s exclusion from the USFPP when the cost of
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administering the benefit amount exceeds the actual amount of any monthly
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benefit to the customer.
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(7) The difference between the customer’s calculated monthly payment
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and the estimated cost of electric service will be divided by 12 and applied to
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the customer’s monthly electric service bill in the form of a fixed credit. Any
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applicable seasonal fuel benefit for the customer’s electric service shall be
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subtracted from the total amount of the otherwise applicable fixed credit. Any
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other emergency or crisis assistance LIHEAP payment shall not be subtracted
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from the amount of the fixed credit, but shall be applied to the customer’s
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account in the normal course of the administration of such emergency or crisis
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benefit programs. A participating customer is responsible for all actual
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charges for electric service in excess of the fixed monthly credit.
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(8) May require the customer to enter into a levelized payment plan for
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the balance of the estimated annual bill in excess of the fixed monthly credit.
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Any such levelized payment plan shall be administered by the electric
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company, so that a customer’s actual usage and required payments are
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reviewed regularly and adjustments made to assure payment in full by the end
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of the payment plan.
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(9) Shall ensure that the participating customer will be responsible for
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actual usage during the program year and the actual monthly bill in excess of
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the fixed USFPP benefit so that a participating customer who uses less than the
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estimated usage used to calculate the fixed credit shall benefit from this lower
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usage in the form of a lower monthly bill, and a customer who uses in excess
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of the annual usage used to calculate the fixed credit shall be responsible for
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the payment of the additional charges. The board may provide an exemption
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to this rule to require an adjustment to the customer’s monthly credit amount
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when the customer moves to a new location, when electrically powered life
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support equipment is installed at the customer’s location and the customer
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notifies the electric company, or when adults who reside in an USFPP
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household legally separate and change the responsible name on the account.
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(10) Shall ensure that during the participants first term of the USFPP
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payment plan, each electric company shall offer a participating customer with
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preprogram arrears an option to obtain forgiveness of the customer’s arrears
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balance pursuant to an arrears forgiveness program adopted by the board.
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(11) Shall ensure that as a condition of program enrollment, an USFPP
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participant shall accept referral to entities delivering no-cost, demand-side
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management measures and programs that may be available to the participant’s
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dwelling or rental unit unless the participant is a renter and the owner or
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landlord withholds the required consent.
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(12) Shall ensure that the intent of this program is that USFPP assistance
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will not be counted as income or as a resource in other means-tested assistance
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programs for low income households. The USFPP will therefore be
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administered in a way that ensures that USFPP assistance will not result in the
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loss of other federal or state assistance dollars.
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(c) This section does not confer any automatic right or entitlement on any
person.
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(d) The board shall determine the funding obligation for each electric
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company based on each electric company’s reasonable proportion of the
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statewide USFPP budget for each program year. Each electric company shall
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transfer the required funding for USFPP to the administrator.
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(e) Program funding associated with the costs of the USFPP shall be
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recovered from all customers of each electric company by means of a
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nonbypassable per kilowatt-hour charge. The cost recovery methodology
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established by the board may adopt a maximum per customer meter charge in
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addition to or as a substitute for the otherwise applicable per kilowatt-hour
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charge as long as the board determines that all customer classes are
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contributing an equitable amount to the funding of the USFPP.
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(f) The board shall require the electric companies to maintain sufficient
data on participating customers so that the net costs of the program can be
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determined, including participating customer arrearages, incidence of
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nonpayment, disconnection of service, reconnection of service, frequency of
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bill payment, overdue balances incurred, write-off of uncollectible expense,
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customer contacts and disputes, payment arrangement terms, and other relevant
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electric company operations and maintenance expenses, and impacts on
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electric company cash and working capital.
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(g) The board shall appoint an administrator to implement the USFPP in
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coordination with the delivery of LIHEAP and the weatherization assistance
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program, other statewide financial assistance programs, or community-based
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organizations that already have a vital role in the implementation of energy and
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financial assistance programs for low income households that will assure the
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most efficient determination of eligibility and benefit amount in coordination
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with existing programs in this state.
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(h) During each program year, the administrator shall track and monitor
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program costs, available funds, and cumulative benefit expenditures. The
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administrator shall file quarterly reports with the board in an electronic data
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format satisfactory to the board. The quarterly reports shall include
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information as required by the board to track the implementation and
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performance of the USFPP in meeting the purpose of this program.
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(i) The administrator shall be entitled to receive actual incremental
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administrative costs associated with the implementation of the USFPP to
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include costs incurred by any local community-based organizations that are
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associated with the implementation and administration of the USFPP.
(j) The administrator shall develop an automatic enrollment method such
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that potentially eligible participants are identified by the administrator and
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enrolled in the USFPP annually. The board shall require that any entity that
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obtains access to customer-specific account and income information shall
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assure that such information remains private, and that the entity’s use of this
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private information will be limited to the implementation and goals of USFPP.
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The efficiency utility established under 30 VSA 209 shall be informed of all
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participants in the home heating fuel assistance program and the USFPP. The
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transmittal of customer-specific information designed to screen electric
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customers for enrollment in USFPP is intended to implement an additional
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benefit within the meaning of the consumer privacy policies of the federal
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Social Security Act.
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(k) The board shall require that customers who are automatically screened
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and enrolled in the USFPP through the data matching process in subsection (j)
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of this section shall be informed of their enrollment in the program, the amount
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of the fixed credit that will appear on the customer’s electric bill, how to
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participate in the arrears forgiveness program, and the customer’s obligation to
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participate in no-cost energy management services. Each customer shall also
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be offered an option to not participate in or opt out of the program.
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(l) The administrator shall conduct an impact and process evaluation of the
USFPP every two years, which shall analyze and determine the impact of the
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program on program participants and their ability to pay and retain electric
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service, the efficiency and effectiveness of the administration of the program,
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the impact of the program on electric company credit and collection expenses,
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including cash working capital and uncollectible expense, and generally assess
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the costs and benefits of the program. The reasonable costs of any required
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evaluation shall be reimbursed from the USFPP funds.
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(m) The board shall require that the administrator and electric companies
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work together with the program administrator to identify cost-effective ways to
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transfer information electronically and to employ available protocols that will
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minimize administrative costs.
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(n) The electric companies shall bill and collect the monthly bill of an
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USFPP customer pursuant to the same programs and policies as applicable to
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residential customers generally.
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(o) Each electric company shall file quarterly and annual reports with the
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administrator and the board that cumulatively summarize and update program
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information.
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Sec. 2. 30 V.S.A. § 209(b)(4) is added to read:
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(4) Prescribe a monthly and rolling 12-month cumulative reporting
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requirement for electric companies that includes information on disconnection
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of service, reconnection of service, deposits, payment arrangements, and other
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indicia of electric company credit and collection programs. Such reporting
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requirements shall require that, with respect to residential customer class
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information, the reporting data be reported separately for residential customers
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as a whole and for those customers identified in the electric company’s records
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as low income residential customers as indicated by receipt of financial and
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energy assistance applied to the customer’s account.
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