Pennsylvania Code
Pennsylvania Code & Bulletin
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

• No statutes or acts will be found at this website.

The Pennsylvania Bulletin website includes the following: Rulemakings by State agencies; Proposed Rulemakings by State agencies; State agency notices; the Governor’s Proclamations and Executive Orders; Actions by the General Assembly; and Statewide and local court rules.

PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 17-1710

NOTICES

PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION

Inquiry into the Use of Social Security Numbers by Energy Utilities and Contractors in Conjunction with Universal Service Programs; Doc. No. M-2017-2595036

[47 Pa.B. 6450]
[Saturday, October 14, 2017]

 For the following reasons, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (Commission) shall not proceed further with the generic Social Security Number (SSN) inquiry at Docket No. M-2017-2595036. If persons wish to comment regarding the use of SSNs in conjunction with universal service matters, they may do so in Review of Universal Service Programs at Docket No. M-2017-2596907.

 Docket No. M-2017-2596907 was opened because an energy utility had asserted that SSNs were required from persons seeking hardship funds.1 According to the utility, its hardship fund administrator established the requirement.2 Staff has now confirmed that the administrator requests, but does not require, SSNs from customers seeking hardship funds. The Commission is unaware of any energy utilities or their contractors/agents that currently require customers to disclose their SSNs, as well as the SSNs of other persons within their households, as a condition for receiving universal service benefits. Accordingly, the inquiry at Docket No. M-2017-2595036 is moot, and the docket shall be closed.

 Individuals with questions regarding this Secretarial Letter should contact Joseph Magee, Bureau of Consumer Services, jmagee@pa.gov, regarding technical or operational issues, or Louise Fink Smith, Law Bureau, at finksmith@pa.gov, regarding legal or procedural issues.

ROSEMARY CHIAVETTA, 
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 17-1710. Filed for public inspection October 13, 2017, 9:00 a.m.]

_______

1  Hardship funds are a mandatory part of an energy utility's universal service and energy conservation program (USECP) and can provide cash assistance to the utility's customers to help pay utility bills. Hardship funds payments go directly to energy companies on behalf of eligible customers. See http://www.puc.pa.gov/consumer_info/electricity/energy_assistance_programs.aspx. Hardship funds are often administered by community based organizations (CBOs) on behalf of the energy utilities.

2  See Duquesne Light Co. 2017—2019 USECP, Docket No. M-2016-2534323 (order entered March 23, 2017), at 43—47. Duquesne had asserted that its hardship fund administrator, the CBO Dollar Energy Fund (DEF), required applicants for hardship funds to provide SSNs for identification. DEF also administers hardship funds for several other energy utilities. This prompted initiation of Docket No. M-2017-2595036. In the interim, DEF has clarified that a customer is not denied a hardship fund grant merely because the customer does not provide SSNs for all members of the household and confirmed that it accepts alternative forms of identification. DEF has provided documentation regarding its policies and has committed to reviewing its requirements with its employees and agents and with all the utilities for which it serves as a CBO. Thus, Commission concerns relative to the use of SSNs by Duquesne in particular or DEF in general in conjunction with universal service programs have been resolved.


No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.