Category: Utilities & Energy
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An Ohio household that has been shut off pays only $175 of its balance and a reconnection fee of no more than $36 up front to get service back
An Ohio household whose electric or natural gas service has been shut off can get it back by paying only $175 of what it owes, plus a reconnection fee capped at $36 up front. That is the rule of the state’s Special Reconnect Order, a winter protection that applies even when the unpaid balance is…
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Ohio’s consumer advocate says Duke Energy Ohio’s electric filing would add about $8.32 a month for about 500,000 residential customers
A typical Duke Energy Ohio electric customer would pay about $8.32 more each month if the utility’s rate request is approved, according to the state’s residential consumer advocate. The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, which represents residential customers in rate cases, says in its fact sheet on the filing that it has intervened for…
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Michigan’s attorney general asked regulators to cut the approximately $456 million annual electric rate request of Consumers Energy, which sells electricity to about 1.9 million customers
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has asked state regulators to cut a Consumers Energy electric rate increase roughly in half, arguing the utility is asking for far more than it can justify. The company wants to raise electric rates by approximately $456 million a year, and the attorney general’s office wants that request reduced by…
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Ohio’s residential utility advocate says Duke Energy Ohio’s gas filing would add more than $24 a month to a typical household bill and push reconnection to $164
Ohio’s Office of the Consumers’ Counsel, the state’s statutory advocate for residential utility customers, says Duke Energy Ohio’s request for higher natural gas rates would cost a typical household more than $24 a month. The same filing would raise the fee to restore service after a shutoff to $164. Nothing has been approved. The proposal…
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New Jersey bars utility shutoffs for protected customers from November 15 to March 15
New Jersey households that are on certain benefit programs, or that cannot pay because of circumstances outside their control, cannot have their electric, gas, water or wastewater service shut off from November 15 through March 15. The state’s Board of Public Utilities runs the rule as its Winter Termination Program and says the protection covers…
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Households that heat with oil are forecast to spend $2,115 between November and March, including a $509 bill in January alone
A household that heats with oil is forecast to spend $2,115 on fuel from November through March, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency’s winter fuels outlook, published October 6, puts the single costliest month, January, at $509. Both numbers are forecasts of an average household, built on expected prices and weather, so…
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Washington’s attorney general is fighting a Bonneville Power plan that could raise electric rates for Avista, PacifiCorp and Puget Sound Energy customers
Washington’s attorney general is opposing, in a court filing, a federal power agency’s plan to change a formula that helps hold down electric bills for customers of three big utilities. Attorney General Nick Brown’s office said on Sept. 29 that it filed an amicus brief opposing a Bonneville Power Administration plan that could raise rates…
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Vermont Gas Systems says a typical home’s yearly gas bill would fall about $21.73 to $1,726.67 on bills from Nov. 1, if regulators approve its proposed cut
Vermont Gas Systems says a typical residential customer’s yearly gas bill would drop about $21.73, to $1,726.67, on bills rendered on or after Nov. 1, 2026. The figure rests on two cuts that the Vermont Public Utility Commission has not yet approved. The company laid out the numbers in a Sept. 1 customer notice, and…
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North Carolina’s attorney general says Duke Energy Progress’s proposed rate hike would cost customers nearly $960 million more than necessary over two years
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson says a rate increase Duke Energy Progress wants would cost its customers nearly $960 million more than necessary over two years. Jackson’s office made the case in an Oct. 6 statement, and he has refused to sign onto the utility’s request. The North Carolina Utilities Commission, which sets the…
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Wisconsin’s winter ban on utility disconnections of residential heating runs Nov. 1 to April 15, and applications for the state’s regular heating-aid payment are taken through May 15
Wisconsin customers who fall behind on a heating bill are protected from a shutoff for five and a half months starting Nov. 1. The Public Service Commission says the winter moratorium on disconnections runs from Nov. 1 to April 15 every year. The state’s home energy assistance program, WHEAP, has been taking applications since Oct.…