Rights of Utility Customers- 2009 Changes

In the past year, there have been several changes to the rights of utility customers:   (1)  Those over 65 can now get "elder protection" even if there is a minor living in the household.  (2)  Serious illness letters are now good for 90 days (rather than 30), for non-chronic illnesses and 180 days (rather than 90 days) for chronic illnesses; (3) Serious illness letters can now be signed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants (as well as doctors and boards of health) (4) infant protections now apply even if the infant was born after the date of the termination and (5) companies are now offering "arrearage management programs" to all low-income customers who are significantly behind on their bills (see accompanying story).

For more information see our Utilities- Assistance & Discounts or Utilities- Shut-off Protection pages.

-From “Info on back of utility bills” e-mail, Utility Network Listserv, posted by Charlie Harak, National Consumer Law Center, February 01, 2010 .

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