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Press
Release Contact:
October 31, 2000
Janee Briesemeister
(512) 477-4431, ext. 117;
Consumers
Union's Southwest Regional Office
Carol Biedrzycki, Texas ROSE (512) 472-5233;
and Randy Chapman, Texas Legal Services Center
(512) 477-6000
AUSTIN, TX -- Four consumer advocacy
organizations are asking the Texas Railroad Commission to take a more
aggressive stance in protecting consumers against winter
disconnection of home heating service.
The emergency rule petition, filed by Consumers
Union, Texas Ratepayers' Organization to Save Energy, Texas Legal
Services Center and AARP, would prohibit disconnection of gas utility
service between December 1, 2000 through March 1, 2001 and guarantee
an affordable payment plan is offered to anyone who needs one. The
groups note that rising natural gas prices and the onset of winter
combine to create an "imminent peril to the public health, safety and
welfare" of Texas consumers.
"This rule will assure that all residential
customers have the ability to access heating this winter," the
petition says. "No one in Texas should jeopardize health and safety
for fear that running the heater will mean they won't be able to
afford to pay their next gas utility bill."
By the Railroad Commission's own estimates, gas
heating costs this winter are expected to climb 55 percent over the
winter of 1999. The federal Energy Information Administration also
has warned consumers that under normal weather conditions, heating
bills for residential consumers could average from $190 to $240
higher than last winter due to high gas prices.
According to the Texas Department of Health, at
least 21 people died in Texas of hypothermia in 1999. This is a
condition resulting from severe or prolonged loss of body heat due to
cold environments. The elderly are in danger at indoor temperatures
ranging from 60 to 65 degrees.
"This will be a bad winter because consumers
will see higher home heating bills than they have seen in many years,
" said Janee Briesemeister, a senior policy analyst with the
Southwest Regional Office of Consumers Union. "Current rules in
effect at the Railroad Commission are outdated and don't offer much
assistance to consumers in the face of escalating gas prices. Unless
she can get a note from her doctor, a consumer who falls behind on
gas utility payments is at the mercy of the gas utility when it comes
to avoiding disconnection."
Current Railroad Commission rules require a
consumer to obtain a doctor's letter to prevent disconnection. The
doctor must attest that the disconnection would create or aggravate a
serious illness. The disconnection prohibition is in effect for just
20 days and the customer making the request must sign an installment
agreement for payment. Further, the rules do not require the utility
to offer a level billing plan to customers who fall behind on
payments, although some utilities do offer such plans.
Most of the media in the state have recently
reported on the drastic rise in natural gas prices and the impact on
winter heating bills. The Railroad Commission has offered consumers
tips for controlling their bills, specifically, to adopt conservation
measures and to contact their utilities to determine if they offer a
payment plan to help manage high heating bills.
The Railroad Commission is advising people to
turn down their thermostats when they are not at home. "That's not
enough," said Carol Biedrzycki, Executive Director of the Texas
Ratepayers' Organization to Save Energy. "In the face of rapidly
rising prices the Commission should order utilities to stop winter
disconnection and to work with people to keep them warm, healthy, and
safe this winter."
The petition notes that healthy people are also
at risk if gas utility service is interrupted. "For example,
consumers who are disconnected from gas utility service may turn to
other methods to keep warm, such as portable heaters that could
create a risk of fire and resulting in injury, property damage and
possibly death." Another example is burning inappropriate materials
or without adequate ventilation which could cause asphyxiation or
fires.
"The petition would also prohibit a utility
from disconnecting a consumer with a payment pledge from an energy
assistance provider, " said Randy Chapman, director of the Texas
Legal Services Center. "That's crucial for low income households who
are most at risk of falling behind on payments as gas prices
rise."
"The jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission is
limited to private gas utilities serving unincorporated areas, and
that's a problem in consumer protection," Briesemeister added.
"However, we believe if the Railroad Commission grants this petition
it will be difficult for utilities to deny the rest of their
customers the same protection against disconnection due to high
heating bills."
The same petitioners were successful in getting
the Public Utility Commission to adopt emergency rules prohibiting
disconnection of residential electric service during the Texas
heat-related emergencies in 1998 and 2000. They have offered a
proposal currently pending before the PUC to improve its prohibition
on disconnecting electric service in cold winter weather.
