Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission order prescribes steps the state’s largest investor-owned utility must take to let customers know what payment management programs are available, and refer them to nonprofit Community Action Agencies for assistance.
State regulators agreed last month to allow PSE to resume credit and collection practices paused since the pandemic as it works to recover more than $140 million owed from tens of thousands of customers. If a customer fails to take action within 30 days, PSE may place them on a phased debt collection plan, known as dunning, under the order. Disconnections for non-payment are limited to those who owe more than $250 and are more than 90 days overdue. "Our goal is to keep customers connected to their energy service and we will do everything possible to help them," said Carol L. Wallace, PSE’s director of customer operations. "We will not disconnect customers who are working to pay their bill."
But disconnections will occur and studies show minorities and low-income households will make up a disproportionate share of those whose services are cut-off, said leaders of the Washington State Community Action Partnership. They pressed state regulators to prevent disconnections for customers in the most disadvantaged communities, as well as for homebound and medically fragile seniors and families with small children.
"We are surprised and disappointed in the Commission’s order to allow shutting off essential services for vulnerable residents," said Jeff DeLuca, executive director of the partnership. "That population is not being excluded from this process."
Puget Sound Energy operates the state’s largest natural gas distribution system, serving nearly 800,000 customers in six counties. It also provides electricity to about 1.2 million customers.
In 2019, the last year PSE conducted normal credit and collection operations, 40,655 customers were disconnected of 459,045 customers who faced the prospect of losing service for nonpayment, according to the utility.
In March 2020, spurred by the pandemic, Gov. Jay Inslee imposed a statewide moratorium on utilities disconnecting service. That moratorium lasted until Dec. 31, 2021.
PSE officials said the utility did not resume disconnections until May 2022. Since then, there’s been "a small amount" involving customers owing more than $1,000 who were not known or "estimated" to be low-income, Wallace said.
Meanwhile, for much of the last two years, the commission worked to update its credit and collection regulations. As that process labored on, PSE sought permission to resume efforts to collect larger overdue bills because the amount of arrearages – the money the company is owed, but has not been able to collect from customers – kept growing.
Wallace told regulators in November the amount owed in October 2023 was $140 million and, if written off as bad debt, could result in customers getting a one-time rate increase of 4.2% for electric and 3% for gas. To read more click here.