Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
House hearing on HB 641 spotlights power-disconnection risk for medically fragile customers; committee asks for rewrite
Summary
A House Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Committee hearing on HB 641 heard testimony from a resident who said a power cut endangered her life and from EMC representatives who urged local governance. The chair asked the bill author to craft a narrower substitute; no vote was taken.
Representative Lamb presented House Bill 641 to the House Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Committee, saying the measure would extend an existing Public Service Commission rule (referred to in testimony as "Georgia rule 5 15 dash 3 dash 2.03") to electric utilities not regulated by the PSC — including municipal utilities, electric membership corporations (EMCs) and MEAG entities.
The author said the PSC rule, effective since 11/27/1979, requires a residential customer who notifies a utility and provides a physician, county board of health, hospital or clinic statement to identify the illness, estimate its expected duration and certify that disconnection would aggravate the condition. Under current PSC-regulated practice, the rule delays disconnection for the shorter of the illness duration or one month (potentially as short as 20 days under some circumstances); HB 641 would apply the same floor to…
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
