PUC survey shows reduced number of households without heat-related utilities
The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) released the results of mid-winter follow up survey this week that showed a significant drop in the number of households without heating-related utilities compared to the initial survey conducted in December.
The PUC again urged those without adequate heating utilities to contact their utilities about Customer Assistance Programs (CAP) and Low Usage Reduction Programs (LURP), which impact over 767,000 households and are worth over $418 million per year.
Other resources, such as grants under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, are also available, the PUC said.
“Working together with utilities, other state agencies and human service organizations across the state, we continue to reduce the number of Pennsylvania households without heat-related utility service,” PUC Chairman Gladys M. Brown said. “Overall, the number of homes without central heat or using potentially unsafe heat has been cut by nearly 40 percent since our initial Cold Weather Survey in December – but that still leaves approximately 14,000 households without a safe central heating source. We urge any consumer currently without service to call their utility, the PUC or human service agencies in their communities as soon as possible to learn more about the many resources available.”
The PUC’s Cold Weather Survey requires electric and natural gas utilities to survey households where service has been shut off during the year and not reconnected. An initial survey and a follow-up survey are conducted annually.
This year’s follow-up survey found that 13,750 Pennsylvania residences did not have a central heating system or had potentially unsafe heat sources. This represents a 28% improvement from this year’s initial survey. The survey also found that 3,167 homes were without electric utility service and 10,583 were without natural gas.
The PUC noted that some households that are without both natural gas and electric service may have been double counted.
