WHY PENNSYLVANIA NEEDS UTILITY REFORM.

Pennsylvania families are paying too much for basic necessities.

Electricity, natural gas, water, sewage, and home heating are not luxuries. They are essential services families need to remain safe, healthy, employed, and stable.

Yet too many Pennsylvanians are being squeezed by rising utility bills, repeated rate-increase requests, sudden shutoff threats, confusing payment arrangements, reconnection charges, and a regulatory system that too often leaves ordinary customers carrying costs they did not create.

At the same time, Pennsylvania is seeing growing demand from data centers and other large-load users.

Those facilities can place substantial new demands on the electric grid, transmission and distribution systems, substations, water systems, wastewater systems, roads, emergency services, and other public infrastructure.

Pennsylvania does not need to reject every major investment.

But major corporate users must pay their own way.

Families, seniors, small businesses, and ordinary ratepayers should not be forced to subsidize corporate expansion through higher utility bills.

Pennsylvania also needs stronger protection for households facing genuine hardship.

Losing electricity, heat, water, or sewage service can quickly become a health and safety emergency, especially during extreme weather or in homes with children, seniors, disabled residents, or medical needs.

Utility regulation should protect reliable service while protecting the people who ultimately pay for it.

This reform is built around one clear standard:

Lower costs. Control unjustified rate hikes. Protect essential service. Make the customer responsible for the cost pay the cost. Hold utilities and regulators accountable.

WHAT THIS PLAN WILL DO

This reform will:

• Strengthen review of residential and small-business utility rate increases.

• Require additional scrutiny when proposed rate hikes exceed Pennsylvania wage growth or inflation.

• Prevent utilities from shifting lobbying, political influence spending, certain executive bonuses, penalties, wrongful-shutoff costs, preventable mismanagement, and other improper expenses onto protected ratepayers.

• Protect residential customers and small businesses from infrastructure costs caused by data centers and other large-load users.

• Require data centers and other large-load users to pay the infrastructure, utility, and system costs their projects create instead of shifting those costs onto families, small businesses, local governments, or ordinary ratepayers.

• Establish stronger consumer protections before electric, gas, water, or sewage service can be terminated.

• Require final door posting or hand delivery at least 72 hours before an otherwise lawful shutoff.

• Prohibit shutoffs during qualifying extreme cold, extreme heat, declared emergencies, medical hardship, pending assistance decisions, active billing disputes, and other protected circumstances.

• Establish additional review and temporary protection for vulnerable households.

• Require income-based arrearage payment plans before shutoff.

• Eliminate residential reconnection fees for essential utility service.

• Permit only limited, capped, disclosed, and documented charges for legitimate in-home safety work where necessary.

• Establish consumer protections for heating oil, propane, kerosene, coal, wood pellets, commercially sold firewood, and qualifying emergency heating assistance.

• Require emergency heating-fuel delivery standards.

• Strengthen anti-gouging protections for heating fuel during severe weather, emergencies, shortages, and supply disruptions.

• Establish the Pennsylvania Utility Affordability and Stability Fund.

• Prioritize shutoff prevention, medical hardship protection, weatherization, energy efficiency, targeted small-business assistance, and qualifying household relief.

• Provide limited emergency assistance for working households that may earn too much for traditional assistance but still face genuine hardship.

• Protect qualifying local small businesses from preventable utility-driven closure.

• Require stronger data-center and large-load-user reporting, financial security, cost responsibility, and anti-abandonment protections.

• Require public reporting of utility rates, shutoffs, complaints, assistance, large-load usage, infrastructure costs, and cost shifting.

• Establish one easy complaint portal.

• Strengthen the Utility Consumer Advocate.

• Impose stronger consequences for repeated or systemic utility violations.

1. CONTROL UNJUSTIFIED UTILITY RATE INCREASES

Pennsylvania families should not face automatic rate increases every time a utility, data center, or other major corporate user wants additional infrastructure.

Residential and protected small-business rate increases would receive stronger review when they:

• exceed Pennsylvania wage growth
• exceed inflation
• create substantial residential hardship
• increase shutoff risk
• include costs caused by data centers or large-load users
• include abandoned, delayed, underused, speculative, or stranded infrastructure
• include preventable mismanagement
• include costs that should properly be paid by shareholders, corporate users, or other responsible parties

A proposed increase above wage growth or inflation would not automatically be prohibited.

But the utility would have to demonstrate that the increase is necessary, reasonable, prudently incurred, connected to safe and reliable service, and free from improper cost shifting.

Reliable utility infrastructure costs money.

That does not give utilities a blank check.

2. STOP IMPROPER COSTS FROM BEING PASSED TO RATEPAYERS

Utility bills should pay for providing safe and reliable utility service.

They should not become a reimbursement system for political influence, corporate mistakes, regulatory violations, or preventable mismanagement.

Protected residential and small-business ratepayers would not be required to absorb improper costs such as:

• lobbying expenses
• political contributions
• political influence spending
• public-relations campaigns designed to influence rate cases
• executive bonuses tied to rate increases, shutoffs, or cost recovery
• penalties imposed for consumer-protection violations
• wrongful-shutoff costs
• costs caused by preventable utility mismanagement
• stranded infrastructure costs created when a data center or other large-load user abandons, downsizes, closes, or fails to use infrastructure built for it

Pennsylvanians should not receive a larger bill because a utility violated the rules, made a bad corporate decision, or spent money trying to influence the political process.

3. MAKE DATA CENTERS AND LARGE-LOAD USERS PAY THEIR OWN WAY

Pennsylvania should not automatically reject major projects.

But data centers and other large-load users should pay the costs they create. Families, small businesses, local governments, and ordinary ratepayers should not be forced to subsidize their infrastructure or absorb the costs of their expansion.

That includes costs directly attributable to their demand or development, including applicable:

• generation-related requirements
• grid upgrades
• transmission upgrades
• distribution upgrades
• substation upgrades
• reliability improvements
• special service arrangements
• water-system impacts
• wastewater-system impacts
• stranded costs caused by abandonment, downsizing, closure, idling, or reduced operations

The rule is simple:

If their project creates the need or expense, they pay it.

4. REQUIRE UTILITIES TO PROVE THEIR CASE BEFORE RATES GO UP

Rate increases should not be treated as routine paperwork.

When considering a proposed increase, the Public Utility Commission would examine appropriate measures including:

• Pennsylvania wage growth
• inflation
• average residential utility burden
• average small-business utility burden
• shutoff rates
• county-level affordability conditions
• customer-assistance enrollment
• household-income trends

When an increase exceeds wage growth or inflation, the utility would have to demonstrate why the increase is necessary for safe and reliable service.

The utility would also have to demonstrate that the proposal does not improperly include costs belonging to data centers, large-load users, political activity, improper executive compensation, regulatory penalties, wrongful shutoffs, or preventable mismanagement.

This is not a prohibition on legitimate infrastructure investment.

It is a requirement that utilities justify the bill before sending it to the public.

5. REQUIRE REAL DUE PROCESS BEFORE AN ESSENTIAL-SERVICE SHUTOFF

No Pennsylvanian should lose essential electric, gas, water, or sewage service without meaningful notice and review.

Before an otherwise lawful residential shutoff, utilities would have to complete and document applicable steps including:

• mailed written notice
• attempted telephone contact
• text, email, or electronic notice when available
• final door posting or hand-delivered notice at least 72 hours before shutoff
• review for protected-household status
• review of pending assistance applications
• offer of an appropriate payment arrangement
• referral to available assistance programs
• final certification that termination is legally permitted

Essential service deserves more protection than a single form letter followed by disconnection.

6. PROHIBIT SHUTOFFS DURING DANGEROUS CONDITIONS

Utility shutoffs would be prohibited during qualifying circumstances including:

• medical hardship
• pending assistance decisions
• active billing disputes
• qualifying extreme cold
• qualifying extreme heat
• declared emergencies
• failure by the utility to complete required notice or review

Extreme-cold protection would include:

• December 1 through March 31
• days below 25°F
• National Weather Service winter weather advisories, watches, or warnings
• up to a 30-day approved extension when extended cold is expected

Extreme-heat protection would include:

• an actual temperature or heat index of 85°F or higher
• National Weather Service heat advisories
• excessive heat watches
• excessive heat warnings

No family should lose necessary heat during dangerous cold or the ability to safely cool a home during dangerous heat because required protections were ignored.

7. PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PROTECTION FOR VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS

Some households warrant additional review before termination can even be considered.

Qualifying households involving children, seniors, disabled residents, public-assistance recipients, unemployed residents, or veterans-benefit recipients would receive a 30-day protected-household delay.

During that period, the utility would review available:

• payment arrangements
• household income
• hardship status
• LIHEAP eligibility
• customer-assistance programs
• medical-hardship protections
• Pennsylvania Utility Affordability and Stability Fund eligibility

The expiration of the 30-day period would not automatically authorize shutoff.

All remaining notice, payment, assistance, weather, medical, dispute, and legal protections would still apply.

8. REQUIRE PAYMENT PLANS PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY FOLLOW

A payment agreement that is impossible to meet simply delays the next shutoff.

Utilities would be required to offer qualifying customers income-based arrearage repayment arrangements before termination.

The maximum arrearage payment structure would be:

AT OR BELOW 150% OF THE FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL
First 6 months: 1%
After 6 months: 3%

ABOVE 150% AND AT OR BELOW 200%
First 6 months: 3%
After 6 months: 5%

ABOVE 200%
First 6 months: 5%
After 6 months: 10%

These percentages apply to repayment of past-due arrearages.

They do not replace the customer's normal current monthly utility bill.

The goal is to keep customers paying, reduce accumulated debt, and prevent payment arrangements that are doomed to fail from the day they are signed.

9. ELIMINATE RESIDENTIAL RECONNECTION FEES

Families should not be charged another penalty simply to restore essential utility service.

Residential reconnection fees for essential service would be eliminated.

Where legitimate in-home work is actually required, such as:

• pilot lighting
• pressure testing
• required safety inspection

a limited service charge may be permitted.

Any such charge must be:

• capped
• disclosed
• itemized
• documented
• acknowledged by the responsible adult or account holder

No charge would be permitted for work made necessary by utility error, wrongful shutoff, administrative failure, or unreasonable delay.

10. TREAT HEATING FUEL AS AN ESSENTIAL WINTER COMMODITY

Many Pennsylvania families do not heat their homes through a regulated natural-gas utility.

They rely on:

• heating oil
• propane
• kerosene
• coal
• wood pellets
• commercially sold firewood

Those households deserve consumer protection too.

Covered heating-fuel transactions would be subject to appropriate:

• price transparency
• delivery documentation
• anti-gouging requirements
• emergency delivery standards
• complaint procedures
• weights-and-measures enforcement

Customers would receive the full price before delivery, including applicable:

• unit price
• delivery fee
• emergency fee
• tax
• surcharge
• minimum delivery requirement
• estimated total cost

Emergency electric space-heating assistance could also qualify under applicable assistance provisions.

11. REQUIRE EMERGENCY HEATING-FUEL DELIVERY

A household that runs out of heating fuel during dangerous winter conditions cannot wait indefinitely for help.

An emergency minimum delivery would be required within 24 hours when a qualifying household:

• is out of heating fuel
• lacks a safe alternative heat source
• is experiencing a qualifying weather emergency

Emergency minimums would be:

Heating oil:
50 gallons

Propane:
25 gallons or the safe minimum fill

Kerosene:
20 gallons

Coal, wood pellets, or firewood:
A 72-hour emergency heating supply

After emergency delivery, the remaining qualifying order would normally be completed within 72 hours.

During a weather emergency, supply disruption, or widespread delivery backlog, completion could extend to five business days.

Emergency delivery charges would have to be capped, disclosed, and itemized.

Qualifying hardship households could receive fee waivers or deferrals.

12. STOP HEATING-FUEL PRICE GOUGING

Pennsylvanians should not be exploited because temperatures collapse, a storm approaches, or supply becomes temporarily tight.

Excessive, deceptive, or unjustified heating-fuel price increases would be prohibited during qualifying:

• extreme cold
• winter weather advisories, watches, or warnings
• declared emergencies
• supply disruptions
• regional fuel shortages

Applicable enforcement responsibilities would be coordinated among the Attorney General, Department of Agriculture, Public Utility Commission, and county consumer-protection offices where available.

13. CREATE THE PENNSYLVANIA UTILITY AFFORDABILITY AND STABILITY FUND

Pennsylvania needs a dedicated mechanism focused on utility affordability and essential-service stability.

The Pennsylvania Utility Affordability and Stability Fund could receive lawful revenue from sources including:

• data-center impact fees
• large-load-user fees
• utility penalties
• heating-fuel supplier penalties
• settlement proceeds
• enforcement recoveries
• eligible federal funds
• state appropriations
• voluntary county or municipal matching programs

Fund priorities would be:

1. emergency shutoff prevention
2. medical-hardship household protection
3. weatherization and energy efficiency
4. qualifying small-business utility relief
5. low-income household utility credits
6. qualifying senior household utility credits
7. emergency heating-fuel assistance

The fund could not be diverted to:

• utility executive compensation
• lobbying
• political spending
• unrelated corporate subsidies
• data-center subsidies
• large-load-user subsidies
• unrelated state spending

Money dedicated to utility affordability should remain dedicated to utility affordability.

14. HELP WORKING FAMILIES WHO FALL OUTSIDE TRADITIONAL ASSISTANCE

A household can earn too much to qualify for traditional assistance while still being one job loss, illness, or emergency away from losing essential service.

Assistance would use a graduated framework:

AT OR BELOW 150% OF THE FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL
Highest-priority assistance

ABOVE 150% AND AT OR BELOW 200%
Standard assistance

ABOVE 200% AND AT OR BELOW 300%
Emergency sliding-scale assistance

ABOVE 300%
Case-by-case emergency hardship assistance only

This prioritizes the households with the greatest need while recognizing that genuine short-term hardship does not end at an arbitrary income line.

Qualifying emergencies may include circumstances such as:

• shutoff risk
• job loss
• medical crisis
• family emergency
• extreme weather
• declared emergency

15. PROTECT LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES FROM PREVENTABLE UTILITY-DRIVEN CLOSURE

A sudden utility loss can destroy a small business.

It can spoil food, destroy refrigerated inventory, close a restaurant, interrupt payroll, damage equipment, and turn a temporary financial problem into permanent closure.

Qualifying independently owned Pennsylvania-based or locally operated small businesses could receive targeted assistance such as:

• emergency shutoff prevention
• payment-plan assistance
• temporary bill stabilization
• utility-debt mediation
• weatherization and efficiency assistance
• refrigeration or food-safety emergency support

This would not become a bailout program for major corporate interests.

National chains, publicly traded companies, private-equity rollups, data centers, and other large-load users would not qualify for this small-business relief.

16. REQUIRE FULL DATA-CENTER AND LARGE-LOAD ACCOUNTABILITY

Major utility users should disclose the burdens and benefits they create.

Data centers would be required to report appropriate information including:

• projected electricity use
• actual electricity use
• projected water use
• actual water use
• backup-generator use and emissions where applicable
• temporary construction jobs
• permanent jobs
• public tax incentives received
• infrastructure costs created
• how those infrastructure costs are being paid

Before receiving qualifying public incentives, expedited approval, or final operational authorization, covered projects would also enter required community-benefit agreements.

Applicable agreements could address:

• local infrastructure
• roads
• emergency services
• water use
• noise
• backup generators
• stormwater
• local utility impacts
• employment commitments
• apprenticeship opportunities
• use of Pennsylvania-based and local workers where practical and legally permitted

Public benefits should produce measurable public value.

17. REQUIRE FINANCIAL SECURITY BEFORE LARGE CORPORATE INFRASTRUCTURE IS BUILT

Pennsylvania should not build expensive infrastructure for a large-load user and then leave ordinary ratepayers holding the debt when the project disappears.

Covered large projects would be required to provide appropriate financial protections such as:

• upfront infrastructure deposits
• infrastructure bonds
• long-term service agreements
• exit charges
• incentive clawbacks
• site-responsibility agreements
• anti-abandonment protections

If a covered facility plans to close or substantially downsize, the owner would provide 90 days' notice where required.

Continued nonoperation would trigger additional reporting:

At 6 months:
Nonoperation status report.

At 12 months:
Reuse, sale, redevelopment, or decommissioning plan.

At approximately 18 to 24 months:
Stronger enforcement could apply to long-term vacancy or abandonment.

Ordinary customers, municipalities, counties, and small businesses should not inherit abandoned corporate infrastructure costs.

18. CREATE A PUBLIC UTILITY AFFORDABILITY DASHBOARD

Pennsylvanians should be able to see what is happening to utility affordability without searching through scattered regulatory filings.

The public dashboard would report appropriate aggregate information involving:

• shutoff notices
• completed shutoffs
• wrongful-shutoff complaints
• county-level shutoff information
• payment arrangements
• assistance applications
• average residential bills
• approved rate increases
• pending rate cases
• utility violations
• heating-fuel complaints
• residential electricity usage
• small-business usage
• general commercial usage
• industrial usage
• large-load usage
• data-center usage
• infrastructure cost allocation
• data-center incentives
• community-benefit agreement compliance

Personally identifiable customer information would remain protected.

The public should see the system.

Individual customers should retain their privacy.

19. CREATE ONE EASY UTILITY COMPLAINT PORTAL

A customer whose heat, water, electricity, or sewage service is at risk should not need to understand the organizational chart of Pennsylvania government before asking for help.

Pennsylvania would establish one simple complaint portal accessible through appropriate state and utility websites.

Complaints would route to the appropriate entity, which may include:

• Public Utility Commission
• Attorney General
• Department of Human Services
• Department of Agriculture
• Treasury
• Office of Consumer Advocate
• county consumer-protection offices
• county emergency management when immediate household safety is involved

Complaints involving lack of heat, medical danger, alleged wrongful shutoff, extreme weather, or protected-household safety would receive expedited review.

20. STRENGTHEN THE UTILITY CONSUMER ADVOCATE

Residential customers and small businesses need a strong institutional voice when billions of dollars in utility costs are being decided.

The Utility Consumer Advocate would receive stronger authority and resources to:

• participate in rate cases
• challenge improper data-center and large-load cost shifting
• represent protected households in systemic matters
• represent qualifying small businesses in systemic matters
• publish annual affordability reports
• recommend enforcement
• review shutoff practices
• challenge improper lobbying-cost recovery
• challenge improper executive-compensation recovery

The public should not enter a complex utility proceeding with one side represented by major utilities and the other side effectively left alone.

21. HOLD UTILITIES ACCOUNTABLE WHEN THEY BREAK THE RULES

Consumer-protection laws mean little if repeated violations are simply treated as another cost of doing business.

A utility committing repeated, knowing, reckless, or systemic violations could lose eligibility for discretionary rate increases until:

• violations are corrected
• affected customers are compensated
• improper cost recovery is reversed
• an approved compliance plan is in place
• the utility completes at least a 12-month probationary period

Severe or repeated violations could result in probation lasting as long as 24 months.

Minimum wrongful-shutoff compensation would be:

Residential customer:
$250

Protected household:
$500

Protected small business:
$1,000

Customers could also pursue qualifying documented direct losses such as:

• spoiled food
• hotel expenses
• emergency heating or cooling expenses
• medical-equipment disruption
• inventory loss
• direct business losses

Utilities that follow the law should not be punished.

Utilities that repeatedly violate it should not be rewarded.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR PENNSYLVANIA

For residential customers:
Stronger review of rate increases, greater protection from improper cost shifting, real shutoff notice, weather and medical protections, affordable arrearage arrangements, elimination of residential reconnection fees, and better access to assistance.

For seniors, disabled residents, children, and medically vulnerable households:
Additional shutoff safeguards, protected-household review, emergency protections, assistance screening, and greater protection during dangerous weather.

For working families:
A path to limited emergency assistance even when household income is above traditional assistance thresholds but a genuine temporary hardship threatens essential utility service.

For heating-fuel customers:
Clearer prices, delivery documentation, emergency delivery standards, anti-gouging protections, complaint rights, and recognition that heating oil, propane, kerosene, coal, pellets, and commercially sold firewood can be essential winter commodities.

For small businesses:
Stronger rate protection, safeguards against large-user cost shifting, qualifying emergency assistance, protection from preventable utility-driven closure, and a stronger consumer voice.

For data centers and large-load users:
A clear expectation that major users pay for the infrastructure, reliability requirements, water impacts, and stranded costs they create, with stronger reporting, bonding, exit protections, and accountability for public incentives.

For utilities:
A regulatory system that still allows legitimate investment in reliable infrastructure but requires clearer justification, responsible cost allocation, lawful shutoff procedures, consumer protection, public reporting, and consequences for repeated violations.

For taxpayers:
Greater transparency into incentives, infrastructure obligations, penalties, assistance spending, utility enforcement, and whether corporate users are paying costs that properly belong to them.

For Pennsylvania:
A utility system focused on reliable service, affordability, consumer protection, transparent rates, responsible infrastructure investment, and ensuring that ordinary families do not subsidize costs created by much larger users.

BOTTOM LINE

Electricity, gas, water, sewage, and home heating are basic necessities.

Pennsylvania families should not be priced out of them.

That means utility rate increases must be justified.

It means ordinary ratepayers should not finance lobbying, political influence, regulatory violations, corporate mismanagement, or infrastructure built for major users.

It means data centers and other large-load customers must pay the costs they create.

It means a family should receive real notice and meaningful review before essential service is terminated.

It means dangerous cold, dangerous heat, medical hardship, active disputes, and pending assistance must matter.

It means payment arrangements should help people pay their debts instead of guaranteeing another shutoff.

It means heating-fuel customers deserve protection too.

It means small businesses should not be destroyed by a preventable utility crisis.

It means utilities and corporate users receiving public benefits must be transparent and accountable.

And it means Pennsylvania should measure whether the system is actually becoming more affordable.

The standard is clear:

Lower utility costs. Control unjustified rate hikes. Stop unfair shutoffs. Make big users pay their fair share. Hold utilities accountable.