LANSING – State Representative Gary McDowell (D-Rudyard) today unveiled a package of bills aimed at keeping seniors and vulnerable citizens safe during Michigan's harsh winters by requiring utility companies to give longer and more effective notice to customers at risk of a shutoff, adding protections for elderly and mentally disabled customers, and establishing procedures to ensure that no one risks injury or death by living in a home without electricity or heat.
"In a region where temperatures often drop below zero during the winter, working families and seniors living on fixed incomes shouldn't have to worry that their heat will be turned off if they can't afford to keep up with their heating bills," McDowell said. "Under this plan, they won't have to. This is common-sense legislation that will keep our most vulnerable residents safe and warm during these tough economic times."
The House plan aims to prevent tragedies such as the death of 90-year-old Phyllis Willett of Vicksburg. Willett was found dead in her freezing Kalamazoo-area home on Dec. 17, four days after her electricity was shut off by Indiana Michigan Power. Her 63-year-old daughter, whom relatives described as mentally disabled, suffered injuries related to frostbite and exposure.
"Everyday, I see seniors who have had their electricity shut off because they can't pay the bills," said Scott Nason, weatherization energy director with the Sault Ste. Marie Community Action Agency, an organization that provides home heating assistance for Eastern Upper Peninsula residents. "This plan will protect them, and I think it's a good idea."
The plan would:
- Prohibit utilities from shutting off a senior's utilities in the winter and require them to work to ensure that those with mental disabilities don't have their utilities shut off.
- Require utilities to give customers at least 15 days notice before shutoff and notify them in person or by certified mail, and give low-income customers who are part of the Winter Protection Program 30 days to pay their delinquent bill before shutting off service.
- Mandate that utilities visit the home of a senior customer who has not restored service within three business days to tell them how they can resolve the situation.
In addition, the plan requires utilities to waive all fees and fines associated with a shutoff if the company failed to provide proper notice. The utility also must waive any costs for resuming service and pay a fine that will go in to the State Emergency Relief Fund, which helps residents who can't pay their energy bills. Utilities would also be responsible for costs the customer incurred, such as damage to the home from burst pipes, if those costs resulted from the company wrongly shutting off power.
"Service shutoffs have tragically led to the deaths of some of Michigan's most vulnerable residents," McDowell said. "This plan safeguards residents by holding utility companies accountable for the way they treat customers and increasing penalties for businesses that fail to take their notification responsibilities seriously."