PUC preserves winter-moratorium protections after Chapter 14 expired; lawmakers press for legislative reauthorization

Steve DeFrank, chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, told the House Consumer Protection, Technology and Utilities Committee that the commission issued a December 2024 order to maintain the consumer safeguards that Chapter 14 previously codified after the legislature did not reauthorize the chapter when it expired in 2024.

DeFrank said Chapter 14 was adopted after the Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) cash-flow crisis and set income-based parameters for winter moratorium protections. He told the committee the statute first took effect in 2004, was renewed in 2014, and expired in 2024. ‘‘Chapter 14 limits the rights of the PUC,’’ DeFrank said, adding the December 2024 order ‘‘set the table as it is since 2014’’ and made ‘‘no changes to the program at all, awaiting the General Assembly.’’

The nut of the dispute between the PUC and several members of the committee was authority: multiple legislators asked whether the PUC could reauthorize or extend Chapter 14 protections without new legislation. Representative Isaacson and Representative Williams pressed DeFrank on whether the commission needed enabling legislation to adopt permanent rules affecting terminations during the winter moratorium. DeFrank said the PUC can pursue some interim measures through orders and certain payment-arrangement authorities cited in the code, but that permanent rulemaking that would re-create Chapter 14’s termination limits would require legislative authorization.

Committee members stressed the distributional impact of maintaining moratorium protections without reauthorization. Representative Metzger and others characterized the protections as effectively shifting costs into the broader rate base, saying many ratepayers statewide could carry increased uncollectible balances if protections were extended without legislative action. DeFrank acknowledged that uncollectible balances have grown and that some account balances have been very large, but reiterated that changes to income-based termination limits would require action by the General Assembly.

DeFrank said the commission met with oversight chairs before issuing its December 2024 order and indicated the PUC would consult with the legislature if it planned permanent rulemaking. He also said the commission would continue to engage with the committee and staff to explain the legal sections the PUC relied upon for interim measures.

Ending: The committee left the issue open. Legislators signaled they intend to consider whether to reauthorize Chapter 14 or provide explicit enabling language if they want the PUC to adopt long-term rules on termination protections, while the PUC maintained that its December 2024 order preserves the status quo until the General Assembly acts.