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Advocates find fault with telephone legislation

Legislation currently under consideration by the Ohio General Assembly will allow telephone companies to raise rates, significantly reduce consumer protections, reduce low-income customer benefits, lower service quality standards and fail to expand broadband access in rural areas of Ohio.

“Ohioans across the state deserve fair, competitive and reasonably priced telephone service,” Consumers’ Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander said. “This legislation, which deregulates telephone service, provides multiple benefits to the telephone companies while providing no benefit to the public.”

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) joined other consumer advocates to form Ohioans Protecting Telephone Consumers to oppose Senate Bill 162 and House Bill 276.

“Ohio’s seniors rely on landline service to connect with their family, doctors, emergency services and community,” said Ron Bridges of AARP Ohio. “With decreased service quality, Ohio’s elderly could be alone and without telephone services for several days with no way to call for help.”

The legislation:

Allows rate increases. Telephone companies will be able to raise their monthly rates for basic telephone service by $1.25 every year without regulatory review. Also, non-Lifeline customers likely face an additional surcharge to pay for part of the Lifeline discount. Some Ohioans could face telephone rate increases of up to 20-40 percent over the next few years, with no alternative.

Weakens consumer protections. The current Minimum Telephone Service Standards – a set of rules and consumer protections – would be replaced with weaker laws, leaving customers with fewer rights to address grievances. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) would lose its authority to order automatic monetary credits for customers when telephone companies do not comply with certain standards. The legislation adversely affects current consumer protections on such important matters as disconnection, reconnection and security deposits.

Reduces low-income consumer benefits. Currently, hundreds of thousands of low-income Ohioans benefit from discounts on basic landline service through the Lifeline program. The legislation limits the eligibility of Ohioans who can benefit from the discounts, eliminates their protection from rate increases and severely reduces the program’s educational marketing efforts.

Lowers service quality standards. The time companies have to restore an out-of-service telephone line would increase from 24 to 72 hours. While current rules require telephone companies to provide automatic credits for outages of 72 hours or longer, the legislation takes away the PUCO’s authority to order those credits if this standard is not met. Customers will need to file a formal complaint and come to Columbus for a hearing.

Fails to provide broadband access to all Ohioans. Expanding consumers’ access to broadband is important for economic development and job creation. Access provides customers with the ability to receive telephone and Internet service over a high-speed connection. Some of Ohio’s economically depressed areas suffer because of their inability to access high-speed Internet through broadband services.

Fails to protect consumers who have bundled telecommunications services. Customers who receive a package of telecommunication services do not receive minimal safeguards. For example, there is no time requirement for telephone companies to install bundles, restore outages or reconnect a customer who has been disconnected for non-payment. There also is no limit on the deposit a company could charge to begin telephone services.

“This proposal delivers reduced benefits to all Ohioans, including the most vulnerable low-income consumers,” said Joseph V. Maskovyak of the Ohio Poverty Law Center.

Graph: Ohio Telephone Companies Increasing Rates

By Paul E.Kostyu

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Winter heating assistance programs available

As Ohio begins another winter heating season, it is more important than ever for utility customers having difficulty keeping up with their heating bills to be aware of assistance programs available to them.

During the past year, almost 11 percent of Ohio households were faced with loss of natural gas or electric service due to non-payment of their bills. With unemployment numbers at record highs, it is expected the number of applicants for assistance will continue to increase. The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) has resources available to guide consumers in locating the programs that best suit their needs. Customers can call 1-877-742-5622 toll free or visit the agency website, www.pickocc.org, for more information.

Ohio’s state-regulated utilities offer varying levels of assistance for customers having difficulty paying utility bills. In addition, the following federally and state-funded programs are available:

Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP)
HEAP, administered by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), is designed to help income-eligible consumers at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines pay for their heating costs. Consumers can use this program one time per heating season. For more information, customers may contact the ODOD at (800) 282-0880.

Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP)
PIPP is an income-based payment arrangement where low-income customers pay a percentage of their monthly income for electric and natural gas service. The electric PIPP program is administered by ODOD; the natural gas PIPP program is administered by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Eligible consumers must be at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty guideline.

Budget Billing
Budget billing, administered by the utility companies, allows consumers to spread energy costs over a 12-month period to have more uniform monthly payments. Consumers should contact their utility company for more details.

Payment Plans
When facing disconnection, consumers may propose to their utility company a payment arrangement that works best for them. If the company finds the arrangement unacceptable, it must provide an option of participating in either the “one-third” winter payment plan (where customers are billed one-third of the total amount due each month) or the “one-sixth” payment plan (where customers pay one-sixth of the past due amount along with the current charges).

Telephone Lifeline
The majority of Ohio’s local telephone companies offer Lifeline programs to assist with payment of telephone bills. Most households that qualify for HEAP are automatically eligible for Lifeline.

By Marty Berkowitz

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