Title
On, Not Shut Off: Increasing Utility Affordability for Low-Income Pennsylvanians
Document Type
Video Recording
Publication Date
8-1-2018
Abstract
Customer assistance programs (CAPs), as well as other regulatory measures mandated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission that reflect the goals of universal service, are intended to maintain the affordability of essential gas and electricity service for low-income Pennsylvanians. “On, Not Shut Off” provides a clear overview of the effectiveness of such measures from the perspective of the Energy Unit of Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS). The video considers the reasons low-income consumers encounter difficulties paying their utility bills, the inadequacies of some of the measures intended to assure utility affordability in the Commonwealth (such as the energy burden of 17% of gross income that consumers may be obliged to pay before receiving a reduction under a CAP), and the consequences that can follow when the gas or electricity of low-income families is shut off.
Repository Citation
Berch, Seferina; Bradley, Danielle; Clelo, Lilibeth Joan; Hossain, Akbar; Ballenger, Robert; Pickens, Josie; Perez, Sonia; Jenkins, Rosalind; Mackey, Cheryl; Calhoun, Timothy; Popowsky, Irwin "Sonny"; Austin, Regina; Brody, Adam; and Penn Program on Documentaries & the Law, "On, Not Shut Off: Increasing Utility Affordability for Low-Income Pennsylvanians" (2018). Documentaries & the Law Videos. 8.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/doclaw/8