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Winter heating bill assistance available for residential consumers

Now that colder weather is here, many consumers may be seeking ways to stay connected to the service that provides heat to their home.

Budget billing programs allow consumers who are current on their payments to spread the amount they owe over a 12-month period. Consumers should contact their utility company to participate.

Consumers may propose a payment plan to the company that works for their budget. Although the company can reject a plan, it must offer either a:

• 1/3 payment plan: customers pay 1/3 of the total amount due each month, which includes their past due balance and current bill

• 1/6 payment plan: customers pay 1/6 of the balance amount in addition to paying the full amount of the current bill

Ohio’s Winter Reconnect Program allows households that have been disconnected or are threatened with disconnection due to non-payment of a utility bill to have service restored during the winter months by paying either the total amount they owe or $175, whichever is less, plus a reconnection fee of no more than $20.

The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) provides a one-time payment during the winter heating season toward an energy bill for income-eligible consumers. Emergency HEAP (E-HEAP) is also available for income-eligible consumers who have been disconnected from their heating source, have received a disconnection notice or have less than a 10-day supply of bulk fuel.

The Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) allows income-eligible customers to pay a percentage of their income toward monthly electric and natural gas bills. The remaining account balance is carried over each month and consumers are responsible for paying the accumulated amount once they are no longer participating in PIPP.

The Home Weatherization Assistance Program (HWAP) is an energy efficiency program that helps consumers insulate attics, walls and basements as well as perform other projects.

For more information on financial assistance programs, call the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel toll free at 1-877-PICKOCC (1-877-742-5622) or visit www.pickocc.org.

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Lesson No. 4
Renewable energy resources – biomass energy

Biomass is a renewable resource that can be used to generate electricity and liquid fuel. The sources for biomass energy are organic matter such as municipal and industrial waste, fumes from landfills, plants, unused vegetable crops and trees. Biomass can be used for fuel, power production and products that typically would be derived from fossil fuels, such as natural gas or coal.

Today, there are five different methods for using biomass to generate energy. Those methods are:

• Direct combustion – the burning of dry organic matter, such as wood

• Chemical conversion – the conversion of soybean and canola oil to bio diesel

• Pyrolysis – the heating of organic compounds to produce gases

• Anaerobic digestion – the conversion of sewage and animal waste to methane

• Fermentation – the creation of ethanol by fermenting and distilling sugar solutions that can be used to fuel automobiles

On the landfill front, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified over 80 landfills in Ohio that are potential candidates for “Landfill Gas-to-Energy” projects. There are two such projects already in use in Columbus, with electricity from one of the landfills going to a municipal electric company.

In addition to landfills, Ohio is a front runner in the ethanol industry. In 2006, an ethanol plant is slated to open in Coshocton with at least four ethanol plants scheduled to be constructed around the state.

Biomass is an environmentally friendly way to generate energy. Although it omits carbon dioxide when burned (typically less than fossil fuels), the organic matter usually absorbs carbon dioxide while it is growing through photosynthesis. It is considered a renewable resource since the plants used in biomass energy can be grown over and over again.

To learn more about biomass energy, contact the OCC toll free at 1-877-PICKOCC (1-877-742-5622) or visit “Smart Energy” at www.pickocc.org.

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Protections for telephone customers up for review

Standards that affect local telephone customers are undergoing a required five-year review by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) believes the proposal by the PUCO staff would provide consumers fewer protections.

The OCC believes that the rules should be revised to increase consumer protections and not erode ones that are already in place. The OCC advocates for the following:

• Maintain a low fee to make payments at an authorized agent. Currently, consumers who make payments at authorized agents are charged a small fee, twice the cost of a first-class postage stamp. The PUCO staff has proposed to allow agents to charge customers $5 or more.

• Provide credits to customers for service outages of more than 24 hours. The current rules provide credits in these circumstances, however in the PUCO staff’s proposal credits only would be received for outages of 72 hours or more.

• Retain rules that prohibit telephone companies from marketing services to customers until their concerns have been fully addressed. The PUCO staff has proposed that this rule be limited to customers reporting a service concern or making a payment arrangement. The OCC believes that this could pressure customers to purchase products or services they do not want or need.

• Continue to allow consumers with medical conditions to have the opportunity to be placed on a priority repair list. The proposed rules do not include this provision, although it is in the current rules.

• Require companies to have an option on their automated message system for a consumer to reach a live attendant. While companies are currently required to give an option to transfer to a live attendant in the initial part of their message, the PUCO staff’s proposal would allow companies to delay this option until the end of the recording.

Additionally, the OCC recommends that a rule be added that helps protect consumers who become victims of cramming, the unauthorized practice of charging customers for features or services they did not order.

The PUCO Commissioners will be considering all recommendations and are expected to make a decision by year’s end. Consumers can voice their opinion by writing to the PUCO at: Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Docketing Division, RE: Case #05-1102-TP-ORD, 180 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43215.

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Plans could allow AT&T Ohio, Cincinnati Bell to increase basic local telephone rates

State regulators soon will decide whether two of Ohio’s largest telephone companies –AT&T Ohio and Cincinnati Bell – should be allowed to increase their basic service rates without the oversight and review that currently protects residential customers.

AT&T and Cincinnati Bell are the first two telephone companies requesting the ability to raise rates for basic local telephone services through new alternative regulation rules adopted by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) earlier this year. Among other issues, the rules set out competitive market tests to determine whether basic service rates may be raised in a local telephone exchange.

If the companies’ requests are approved, they would be allowed to increase their monthly basic local telephone service rate by up to $1.25 each year. They also would have the ability to increase their monthly basic Caller ID rate by 50 cents each year.

Cincinnati Bell sought permission to raise basic rates in its two largest exchanges – Cincinnati and Hamilton – while AT&T’s request includes 145 of the company’s 192 exchanges.

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) scrutinized both applications, finding that the companies failed to meet the competitive tests required by the PUCO. Specifically, the PUCO’s rules require the companies to show that they have lost a certain percentage of telephone lines and that there are a certain number of other telephone options in their exchanges.

The OCC also believes that the tests are flawed and do not comply with Ohio law. The state’s alternative regulation law states that in order to be able to raise its basic rates, a company must show that there are no barriers that would prevent a competing company from entering its market. A company must also prove that its basic local service customers have competition or reasonably available alternatives. However, based on the PUCO’s tests, a company can be granted alternative regulation without the showings.

If the companies’ requests are approved, the OCC believes that many customers could face higher prices for basic service each year without real alternatives for basic local service from which to choose.

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