Gas and electric customers who are in danger of having their service cut off for nonpayment will have more notice of a pending disconnection, the Maryland Public Service Commission announced this week.
The commission ordered electric and gas utilities in the state to add another 15 days to any service termination notices from April 17 to June 30 that were sent to customers who have not been able to pay their bills, after two bill assistance funds operated by the state ran out of money earlier this year.
The Maryland Department of Human Services Office of Home Energy Programs said in April that it would have to start denying applications to the Maryland Energy Assistance Program (MEAP) and the Gas Arrearage Retirement Assistance Program (GARA) due to a lack of funding. The shortfall was blamed on "an unprecedented increase in utility bill assistance applications," budget limits and higher energy costs.
The PSC said in a news release this week that it has opted not to impose a moratorium on service shut-offs for customers affected by the program shortfalls, recognizing "that most Maryland utilities have voluntarily halted disconnections to customers whose assistance applications have been recently denied" and pointed customers to other resources for help. The commission's statement said it has "strongly encouraged" all utilities to do the same until at least July 31.
In the meantime, the commission ordered the 15 extra days notification, gave utilities 30 days to confirm they had added the time and were taking steps to "lock accounts and halt disconnection activities for this group of customers." The order also requests DHS to file a report on OHEP's long-term funding outlook and on the timing of assistance payments once the two programs are funded again at the July 1 start of the fiscal year.
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