Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Municipal utilities tell House committee disconnects are last resort as H.753 is debated
Summary
At a House Energy and Digital Infrastructure hearing on H.753, Scott Johnstone, a municipal utility manager, said disconnections are "the very last resort," urged light-touch reporting and inclusion of protections in utilities' integrated resource plans, and raised concerns about price volatility and rigid metrics.
Representative Kathleen James convened the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure committee to hear testimony on H.753, a bill relating to utility service disconnections.
Scott Johnstone, general manager of Morrisville Water & Light and interim manager at Hyde Park Electric, testified for municipal utilities, describing disconnects as a measure utilities avoid whenever possible. "Disconnect is the very last resort," Johnstone said, explaining that municipal crews and customer-service staff use outreach, door hangers, partial payments and payment plans to prevent meter pulls.
Johnstone framed the issue as part of broader fiscal pressure on small utilities. He told the committee that sales volumes in the state have been essentially static for roughly 25 years…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
