Take Action to Demand Affordable Energy
Dear George Wiley Center Supporter
With huge utility rate hikes, it is time to implement a Percentage Income Payment Plan (PIPP). For more info. contact organize@georgewileycenter.org
Send your legislators a letter asking for urgent action!
and/or please call 401-222-6655 to speak with your Senator and call 401-222-2447 to talk to your Representative.
After you speak with your legislators or if you receive an email response, please contact the George Wiley Center with their response.
As a Rhode Island tax payer and utility rate payer, I ask you to pass A.S.A.P a Percentage Income Payment Plan (H.B. 7530 and S.B. 2182) to create fairer income sensitive utility rates for seniors on fixed income, disabled people and low-income families.
Every month that goes by without PIPP in place, low-income consumers pay disproportionately unaffordable rates. By passing PIPP you can protect community members from unfair utility terminations. I look forward to your response and urgent action to pass this bill to counter the impacts of extreme rate hikes.
As you are aware, rate hikes were recently approved by the PUC. Many spoke up at the PUC hearings, but the rate hike was approved. Now I am reaching out to you. It is up to you to help implement fairer rate structures that the George Wiley Center has been advocating for years. We need you to act now to address the impact of huge utility rate hikes on Rhode Islanders.
It is urgent to pass H.B. 7530 and S.B. 2182 now more than ever, in order to make utilities more affordable and more accessible, and to counter the public health and economic impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic. Implementing this act would help to offset the additional costs of the pandemic, home energy costs increased due to stay-at-home orders, when more students began attending school at home and/or people may have begun working from home.
Over the last year, we have seen increased housing costs in addition to other cost of living expenses increase in RI. Passing H.B. 7530 and S.B. 2182 will help Rhode Islanders with housing security.
House Bill 7530 and Senate Bill 2182, would establish an income-sensitive tiered subsidy program, funded via utility consumers’ contributions, to ensure that home energy utility costs are affordable for eligible low-income households. Known as a “percentage of income payment program” (PIPP), the bill would apply to electric and natural gas utilities.
With increased inflation and escalating instability of global energy markets, it is imperative to establish a percentage income program in Rhode Island. This policy already exists in over a dozen other states nationwide. Having H.B. 7530 and S.B. 2182 in place will allow for more utility consumers to successfully complete current arrearage forgiveness plans. H.B. 7530 and S.B. 2182 will decrease the frequency of people who default in these forgiveness programs, an issue that has been amplified with higher rates of inflation, illness and increased cost of living expenses. This program will also make the transition to fossil free energy more affordable to everyone.
It would allow those whose household income is at or below 150% of the federal poverty level and eligible to receive assistance through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or enrolled in Medicaid, to pay a discounted rate based on their income levels. A PIPP would cap the rate of utilities at 3% of the customer’s income for electricity or gas, or 6% on electricity if it is the customer’s primary source of heat.
This Bill can reduce state expenditures by lowering the frequency of utility shut-offs. Utility shut-offs are known to cause more emergency room visits, Department of Children, Youth & Families interventions, and other costly outcomes. Through this legislation, we have a chance to challenge the utility termination crisis for low-income households that has plagued our state for too long. After years of community organizing with thousands of allies, we are hopeful with the George Wiley Center and your support, this legislation will be passed soon.
I am hopeful that you will move forward by passing House Bill 7530 or Senate Bill 2182. I look forward to your urgent action on this issue to assure the successful passage of both H.B. 7530 and S.B. 2182.
Sincerely,
George Wiley Center Supporter