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Access to Utility Service: 7.2.5.2.4 The relationship between energy efficiency and arrearage forgiveness

While not mandated by statute or regulation, Connecticut’s natural gas utilities offered participants in their respective arrearage forgiveness programs energy efficiency services from the inception of their programs.411 Southern Connecticut Gas, for example, reported to the DPUC that its list of arrearage forgiveness program participants would be “used by its Conservation Department to provide likely candidates for its CPRU [Conservation Program to Reduce Uncollectibles].”412 The integration of

Access to Utility Service: 7.2.5.3.2 The disapproved Laclede Gas Catch-Up/Keep-Up pilot program

In September 2002, Laclede Gas Company filed a proposed arrearage forgiveness program with the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC). Under the proposed “Catch-Up/Keep-Up Plan,” the company would use discounts obtained through its transportation gas rates, in part, to fund the reduction of arrears for low-income customers. According to the Missouri PSC, the Catch-Up/Keep-Up tariff

Access to Utility Service: 7.2.5.3.3 The approved Laclede Gas Catch-Up/Keep-Up pilot program

Subsequent to the Missouri PSC’s rejection of Laclede’s proposed Catch-Up/Keep-Up program, Laclede Gas, PSC staff and the Office of Public Counsel stipulated in Laclede’s 2005 rate case that “a low-income energy assistance program . . . should be approved by the Commission.”435 The settlement of the 2005 rate case included a natural gas rate increase of roughly $8.5 million, compared to the $39 million originally requested by Laclede Gas. The PSC approved the low-income sections of the stipulation without discussion.

Access to Utility Service: 11.4.2 Emergency Calls Using TRS

One critical issue with the internet-based relay services is the ability of the callers to make emergency calls. While consumers using traditional TTY service can place a call directly to the appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP), calls using a relay service are sent to a communications assistant who must place the call to the appropriate PSAP. Relay services using the internet pose special challenges because of the current difficulty in identifying the location of the caller.

Access to Utility Service: 11.4.4 Video Accessibility

In 2010, in response to the growing presence of video programming on the internet, Congress passed the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) in order to enable individuals with disabilities to access new, emerging technologies. Targeted toward manufacturers of communications and video equipment, the Act requires that services and equipment be provided in an equally accessible manner.

Access to Utility Service: 11.4.5 Services for the Deaf-Blind

The CVAA directed the FCC to establish rules defining as eligible for funding support programs that distribute specialized customer premises equipment to low-income individuals who are deaf-blind. In 2011, the FCC issued rules establishing the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP) pilot program. The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau launched the pilot program on July 1, 2012.

Access to Utility Service: 11.4.7 Enforcement of the Provisions Regarding Access by Persons with Disabilities

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 explicitly states that no additional private rights are being created by the provisions of section 255. The Act also gives the FCC exclusive jurisdiction for complaints arising under this section. Consumers can file a formal or informal complaint with the FCC about a manufacturer’s or telecommunications provider’s failure to make devices or services accessible or compatible as required under 47 U.S.C. § 255.

Access to Utility Service: 11.5.4.2 Cramming Enforcement Actions

In 2011, the FCC Enforcement Bureau issued “notices of apparent liability” to four companies for charging consumers a variety of small amounts—ranging from $1.99 to $19.99—every month over varying periods for long-distance calls that the consumers did not make.274 These enforcement actions netted a total of $11.7 million. Beginning in 2013, the FCC began to combat “mobile cramming,” the practice of using cell phone bills as a vehicle for unauthorized third-party charges.

Access to Utility Service: 11.5.7.3 FCC Actions

In December 2012, the FCC began to consider changing the rules relating to interstate inmate calling services.317 This action was taken in response to petitions filed by family members of inmates at prison facilities run by Corrections Corporations of America.

Access to Utility Service: 10.1.2 Types of Housing with Utility Allowances

While many of the basic concepts regarding utility allowances are broadly applicable in several of the housing programs, there are some differences between programs that are important to understand. Therefore, it is useful to be familiar with the basic types of publicly assisted housing programs.

Access to Utility Service: 10.1.4.2 Master-Metered Projects

Master-metered projects have meters which measure consumption for the building as a whole, and the PHA pays the utility company directly from its operating budget. Here the utility costs are included in the tenants’ rents. Tenants are generally subject to a surcharge for the use of certain tenant-supplied appliances.20

Access to Utility Service: 10.1.4.3 Check-Metered Projects

In check-metered projects, the service is supplied by the utility company through the use of a master meter, but each housing unit has individual meters installed by and under the control of the PHA to measure excess consumption by the household. Tenants living in check-metered units are subject to a surcharge for consumption above the “reasonable” allowance (“excess consumption”) established by the PHA.21

Access to Utility Service: 10.1.4.4 Retail-Metered Units

Retail-metered units are those in which the tenants have a direct relationship with the utility provider, and each tenant is responsible for the payment of the utility bill for the apartment. These households receive a reduction in their rent (the utility allowance) to cover the expected cost of consuming a “reasonable” amount of utilities. The tenant, not the PHA, is responsible for payment of the bills. To the extent actual consumption exceeds the utility allowance provided by the PHA, the tenants are responsible for the excess.

Access to Utility Service: 10.2.1 Overview

This section describes the process by which public housing authorities (PHAs) should calculate fair and reasonable utility allowances in public housing. Utility allowances in HUD’s Section 8 Certificate and Housing Choice Voucher programs (hereafter “the Voucher Program”) are discussed at § 10.2.5, infra.

Access to Utility Service: 10.2.3.1 PHAs Have Discretion in Setting Allowances

Long-supplanted regulations42 provided much more guidance and specificity than the current rules about how to establish allowances. The old standard required allowances to cover the consumption of 90% of the tenants living in a check-metered project and actual average consumption for tenants purchasing their own utilities. Utility allowances therefore had to reflect actual consumption.

Access to Utility Service: 10.2.3.2 HUD Guidebook

A revision to HUD’s Public Housing Occupancy Guidebook (“the Guidebook”) released in June 2003 provides the best tools for tenants fighting for adequate utility allowances. For example, the Guidebook notes that “[u]tility allowance amounts will vary by . . . size and type of unit . . .

Access to Utility Service: 10.2.4 Appliances and Uses Covered by and Excluded from Utility Allowances

Utility allowances would appear to cover the consumption of all tenant-paid “utilities” other than telephone,58 including household-related services such as trash disposal and water or sewer charges.59 In public housing, allowances must be established for “major equipment” and for “utility functions furnished by the PHA for all tenants (e.g., heating furnace, hot water heater), for essential equipment whether or not supplied by the PHA (e.g., range and refrigerator), and for minor items of e

Access to Utility Service: 10.2.5.2 Voucher Tenants Face Unique Problems

Voucher Program tenants who pay their own utility bills face some unique problems. Under the Voucher Program’s complex rules, the relationships among “payment standards,” actual rents, and utility allowances can drive tenant burdens well above 30% or even 40% of income. In some cases, a PHA that increases the utility allowances for voucher tenants will not increase the amount of assistance the tenants receive, and it may make it impossible for tenants to rent certain apartments.

Access to Utility Service: 10.2.6.1 Overview

The vast majority of low-income tenants who receive federal housing assistance live in public housing or are voucher tenants. There are, however, a bewildering array of other housing subsidy programs, some of which may require that tenants be granted utility allowances. It is beyond the scope of this section to describe all of these other housing programs in detail or to summarize the utility allowance rules that apply to each program.