WTH? There's NO "Winter Moratorium" in NYS?

[WePurrsevere]

Yesterday my daughter was told by the power company that there is NO winter moratorium in NY and they CAN turn people's electric and gas for non-payment.

She was on the budget and deferred and had a couple of unexpected emergency bills come up so she was short for to pay her electric. She received a termination notice for the full amount she owes but when she called them to see if she could make some other payment arrangements was at first basically told tough... then the rep said the best they could do that would keep the power on was if she could come up with about 1/2 of the back she owes. They did suggest HEAP but if she uses HEAP (only $400. yr max) to keep her power on she won't be able to use it for HEAT and she lives on the very Northern edge of the Adirondacks.

I can't believe that NY with it's horrendous cold winter temps does not have a "winter moratorium" law in place. It's going to be very difficult for many to juggle increasing power bills with their increasing heating bills and stagnent income.

I've Googled to double check and it looks like the power company rep is right. This is just so wrong and could cost lives of people just trying to juggle their money to survive.

Does anyone have any info that contradicts this? If there isn't one is there a NY activist group that I can work with to get one passed? It's not like electricity is something most of us can do without for very long especially in the Winter when our furnaces and baseboard heaters all need it.

[Breeze54]

1. First I heard of this...

I looked for some Links for you or information....

This Link is for every state and the policies...

http://www.liheap.ncat.org/Disconnect/disconnect.htm

State..................New York
Date-based.............yes
Protection Dates ......11/1 - 4/15
Temperature-based no
Temperature.....
Seasonal Policy
15 day shut-off protection; no disconnection if a doctor certifies
that there is a medical emergency
Other Prohibits disconnect if household has life support system;
30 day delay for certified medical condition,
certificates may be renewed for 30 days or 90 days if a chronic condition exists.
Deferred Payments.....Utilities must offer payment plan suited to customer's financial situation.

COMPARED to Massachusetts:
State Massachusetts
Date-based...........yes
Protection Dates.....11/15 - 4/30 (electric.....11/15 - 4/30..(gas)
Temperature-based.....no
Temperature
Seasonal Policy....Disconnect not permitted for any customer who cannot pay an overdue charge because of financial hardship.
For 2003, the Dept. of Telecommunications and Energy approved
a 4 - 6 week extension of the shut-off moratorium.
Other
Deferred Payments
----------------------------------------------
That totally sucks for your daughter!
Maybe you better call Hillary?!?

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usbudg194519196nov19,0,6887185.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines
House OKs budget cuts
Billions trimmed from social services,
with NY hit hard by Medicaid cuts;
heating aid for needy approved
Snip-->
The bill also authorizes an additional $1 billion
for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program,
which helps low-income families pay for heating bills.
New York receives more funding from this program
than any other state.<--Snip

[happyslug]

2. Hillery is her FEDERAL Senator, Moratoriums is a STATE Rule.

She would be better off contacting her State Senator or State Rep.

[WePurrsevere]

4. Right.. Hillary has been good up here for Fed stuff but she's not state.

I'll make a couple of phone calls to the local Dem party and our state Rep and try to put a bug in their ear.

[WePurrsevere]

3. Thank you for the info, that's the one I found when I Googled however

I didn't do a comparison to another Northeast state. Now I'm even more ticked off. I just can't believe that in NY, where we get some very high heating bills, etc that they don't have a winter moritorium in place.

Hillary has been very helpful to folks up here but on a Fed level. I was hoping there was an existing Activist group for state issues but haven't found one yet. Although we're registered as Independants I'll call my local Democratic party and the local Rep to put a bug in his ear.

Thank you for your response. :)

[trogdor]

5. Heating oil donations?

I've been thinking about this for awhile now. Is there any way one could donate X gallons of heating oil for people in dire need, that is, without (yuck) siphoning it out of my own tank?

The way it might work in the short term is, a bunch of people put money into a hat. An individual is identified, and the oil company is called. The bill is paid out of the kitty.

The way it might work in the long term is, a bunch of people invest in a storage tank, perhaps at an abandoned gas station. They shop around and buy oil when it's cheap, like in the summer. They pump it out into five gallon cans (as many as you can transport without a HAZMAT license) in the winter as needed.

Does such a thing already exist?

[salvorhardin]

6. It sounds like what you're proposing in the long run

Is a home-heating cooperative. Interesting idea. 1 problem of note is that not everyone heats with oil. For instance, I live in an apartment and my furnace is propane. A really interesting idea though with lots of complications but you should explore it.

[LosinIt]

7. Here is something Schumer is pushing for a Federal program

http://www.rnews.com/Story_2004.cfm?ID=32633&rnews_story_type=18

The Low Income Heating Assistance Program will run out of money by Christmas unless lawmakers add more money to it, says U.D. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY).

Schumer is calling for Congress to add one billion dollars to the HEAP fund for the remainder of the season.


I'd call his office to ask about the program, even though they say it's about to run out of money they may still be accepting new applicants. Doesn't hurt to apply. Good luck. I know that is you are in extreme Northern New York it is not a stretch for it to be below zero many, many nights in the winter. Keep warm.

[WePurrsevere]

8. Thank you. :-) n/t