The shutoff moratorium was in place for the better part of 2020 due to the crushing economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and three now-resigned PUC commissioners reinstated it in response to the further financial hardships caused by the February winter storm. The moratorium will be lifted on June 18, two days before a forecasted hotter-than-normal summer arrives, and shutoffs can resume in the final week of the month.
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We want to feature the voices of the people most impacted by electricity shut offs. If this news affects you, reach out to
dominic@tpr.org or leave a voicemail at (210) 615-8982.
Despite
hotter-than-normal summer temperatures in the forecast, private electricity companies are pressuring the Public Utility Commission of Texas, or PUC, to allow power shutoffs for people who haven’t paid their bills.
Many Texans are behind on electricity bills: nearly 170,000 in San Antonio and about 50,000 in Austin areas where electricity is provided by city-owned utilities. The average past-due amount is about $600.
NRG and Vistra the massive conglomerates whose subsidiaries dominate the state’s deregulated electricity market, which includes Houston and Dallas did not answer TPR s questions about how many of their customers owe money.
State lawmakers approved the $2.4 billion program in early April as a part of New York’s budget for fiscal year 2022. The program allots federal funds to the landlords of tenants who have experienced financial hardship during the pandemic.
According to ODTA’s webpage, rental relief funds will go to priority applicants during the first 30 days of the portal’s launch. Households making at most 50 percent of the area median income that include a member who’s experienced additional hardship, such as 90 days of unemployment, will be eligible first.
To apply, landlords must provide a W-9 form, their tenant’s lease, the amount of back rent owed and banking information. Renters must provide identification, a Social Security number if they have one and proof of rent owed, residency and income. Both parties will need to sign the application form to receive arrears.
Listen to this
The Pennsylvania Rescue Plan is a targeted investment to help not only Lackawanna County citizens and businesses, but also people in towns and cities across Pennsylvania. A total of $13.7 billion is earmarked under the American Rescue Plan and Pennsylvania is slated to receive some of that funding for our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are four key aspects to the Pennsylvania Rescue Plan.
Here are some highlights:
• $250 million in hazard pay for front-line essential workers. They’ve more than earned it.
• $250 million to create a Paid Sick and Family Leave program – because every working family in Lackawanna County needs to be able to stay home when they are ill, even after the pandemic is over.
Virginia Rent Relief Program still going strong, expanding outreach Money (Source: Pixabay) By Andrew Webb | April 11, 2021 at 8:06 PM EDT - Updated April 11 at 8:06 PM
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Virginia’s Rent Relief Program continues to have a lasting impact on households impacted by COVID-19.
Now, people who are eligible for unemployment benefits, are also able to receive rent relief through this program. Other qualifications include having a gross income at 80% or lower of the area median income and rent must be at or below 150% of fair market rent.
“We have seen $721,000 in rent and mortgage relief payments paid throughout the City of Charlottesville,” Amanda Love with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development said. “That’s been about 254 households that have been able to take advantage of this program.”