Hatch contends utility violated winter shutoff law

06/21/2005

Associated Press
June 21, 2005

Attorney General Mike Hatch alleged Tuesday that gas utility CenterPoint Energy deliberately violated state law designed to protect poor customers from heat cutoffs last winter and should be fined $5 million.

In issuing a report on the company’s compliance with Minnesota’s Cold Weather Rule, Hatch condemned the utility in the strongest terms and said he was seeking the harshest penalty allowed.

“This company should be shamed,’’ he said. “It should be punished severely.’’

Hatch asked the Public Utilities Commission to also order CenterPoint to pay restitution to customers whose homes were damaged or lost because they weren’t reconnected quick enough under the law.

Houston-based CenterPoint serves more than 760,000 customers in Minnesota. The company issued a statement saying it has “always worked to comply’’ with the Cold Weather Rule.

“We are cooperating with state officials and making every reasonable effort to respond to requests as part of this investigation. We will address all concerns and allegations before the MPUC, which is the proper forum for this investigation,’’ the statement read.

The Cold Weather Rule requires utilities to reconnect the heat of delinquent customers between Oct. 15 and April 15 as long as they meet income requirements and agree to a payment plan.

According to Hatch, 2,560 customers were disconnected as of Oct. 15 and more than 1,000 of them went without heat into December.

One of them was Rebekah Miller, who used space heaters and heating pads to stay warm inside her Braham mobile home because her service was disconnected well into December. She said the utility waited to reconnect her even after government energy assistance covered her overdue payments.

“I was miserable,’’ she said. “Everything froze, bust. I’m still paying for it.’’

She had no running water and couldn’t flush her toilet because of frozen pipes that ultimately burst. Miller, who is unemployed because of a disability, said her home has now been labeled uninhabitable.

In his submission to the PUC, Hatch said the company’s conduct was “inhumane.’’

“Only by imposing a substantial penalty will companies that provide heat to Minnesotans be deterred from abusing the power they possess over their customers,’’ Hatch wrote.

Hatch said the commission has no timetable for acting on the request and he couldn’t recall past cases where a company was fined for violating the rule.