Maine lawmakers push for new utility shut-off ban

(The Center Square) – Maine lawmakers are pushing for another statewide ban on disconnecting service to utility customers who can’t pay their bills amid the pandemic.

In a letter to Maine Utilities Commission Chairman Philip Bartlett, state Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, called on the regulatory agency to reimpose an emergency moratorium on shutting off electric, natural gas and water service to residential and commercial customers for at least 120 days, citing rising COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations.

“The dire economic and public health circumstances we face today are significantly worse than the situation we faced in March [2020],” Baldacci wrote.

State regulators banned disconnections in March as part of a raft of COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Gov. Janet Mills, but the temporary moratorium was lifted in November.

The letter requesting a new ban was signed by 55 lawmakers, including House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, and Senate Majority Leader Nate Libby, D-Lewiston.

Baldacci posted the letter on social media and said another moratorium is crucial to help struggling Mainers survive the winter.

“We are now facing some of the worst months of this public health emergency and we need everyone, including the power companies, to share in the burdens we are all dealing with on a daily basis,” he wrote.

The lawmakers wrote that if CARES Act funding isn’t available to facilitate a total moratorium, regulators should “at least” bar utilities from sending letters about overdue balances to customers.

“Whether empty threats or real ones, these persistent calls, emails, visits and mailings are causing undue stress and hardship to many Maine residents who are already more than hard-pressed,” lawmakers wrote.

To be sure, electric utilities are already prohibited from shutting off service to residential customers from Nov. 15 to April 15 without approval from state regulators. But they are allowed to send disconnection notices as part of an effort to collect overdue balances.

The call to reimpose the ban follows a similar request from a group of Central Maine power customers who asked regulators to halt disconnections.

Last month, a state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of Central Maine Power customers who argued that disconnection notices they received were fraudulent because utility hadn’t received permission from regulators.

In the letter to regulators, Balducci said the impact of the coronavirus in Maine has changed dramatically since the moratorium was lifted.

On Wednesday, Maine reported 599 new COVID-19 cases and nine deaths. About 190 people are currently hospitalized, with about 50 patients in intensive care units. To date, the state has reported at least 26,565 confirmed and suspected cases and 369 deaths.

“Hope is on the way with increased vaccines and some federal economic help – but help is not enough for families and businesses to survive safely, over the next few harsh winter months,” Balducci wrote.

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