CT Improves Services To Low-Income Power Customers

Connecticut did better last year in helping low-income residents afford power, but advocates say the state still needs a better plan for assistance. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

Nonprofit Operation Fuel helps pay the bills for many low- and moderate-income families around the state, and each year it produces a scorecard report showing Connecticut’s affordability gap – that’s the dollar amount by which actual home energy bills exceed the means of ratepayers.

In 2010, that shortfall number was $480 million, more than 2000 dollars per affected household. That was actually an improvement on the gap in 2009, which stood at $585 million. But Operation Fuel director Patricia Wrice says more federal aid and a dip in the price of fuel were the main drivers of the improvement, and the state cannot count on things continuing to get better. She wants to see Connecticut introduce what’s known as an affordable rate, a power price for low-income families based on what they can afford to pay rather than driven up by the market. She says legislators are beginning to listen.

“We’re only asking that the state legislature pass a bill that allows the state regulating agency to take a look at affordability rates, and make a study and report back. Then look at best practices and find out what makes sense. And this way it allows the utility companies also to share their experiences.”

Several states around the nation have already implemented discount rates for low-income residents.

For WNPR, I'm Harriet Jones.