The Public Service Commission opened a rulemaking session and announced plans to form a work group to review and revise billing, collection and termination regulations, with an explicit aim of having new rules in effect by the start of summer 2025.

The commission’s chair (name not stated) said he had reviewed the commission’s proposal, stakeholder comments and “a fairly extensive filing” from the Office of People's Counsel, and concluded the agency should pursue “a fairly substantial review and revision of the existing regulations regarding billing, collection and termination practices.” The chair said the current summertime process appears to have been “stapled on” to winter protections and lacks comparable detail.

The chair flagged concern that summertime conditions can be as dangerous as winter cold for customers’ health and well‑being and said the commission had discussed with the Department of Health whether the right metrics are being used to trigger protections. He proposed “constitut[ing] a work group to examine the regulations top to bottom” supervised by a commission advisor referred to in the transcript as “Mr. Sprawl,” and set the work group’s explicit goal as putting new regulations in place before the 2025 summer season.

Stakeholders and commissioners voiced broad support. Commissioner Richard said he agreed with the chair’s approach and emphasized improving customer protections and the customer experience, urging a process that seeks consensus where possible. An attendee who identified a neighbor on home oxygen described the human stakes: “she is on oxygen and she is a person for whom an outage is a very personally life threatening situation,” and urged the work group to consider additional triggers for protections.

Laurel Peltier and other consumer advocates (appearing in the session) stressed life‑safety concerns. Schuchman warned against creating onerous verification requirements that would force vulnerable customers to see a doctor to avoid disconnection, saying, “the presumption always should be in favor of no disconnection.” He urged practical safety nets to keep electricity available.

The chair said he will review the comments received, incorporate them into the follow‑up order that will instruct the work group, and attempt to identify areas of consensus. No formal vote was recorded at the session. The chair adjourned the meeting and said a follow‑up order with specific work‑group instructions would be issued.

Next steps: the commission will issue a follow‑up order establishing the work group and its charge; the chair indicated an expectation that the group’s work should yield rules ready for the start of the 2025 summer season.