Do utility companies have an obligation to help out customers who can't pay?

By Rina Palta on January 19, 2010 - 11:42am

Here in the Bay Area, most of us get our electricity and gas from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), a private company. Elsewhere in the state, some places have municipal utilities that are run by local government and aren't necessarily supposed to make a profit, and aren't answerable to shareholders and the whims of the stock market. If a power company is private, what obligations does it have to take into account its customers' economic needs? Should PG&E be immune from criticism for shutting of people's power if they can't pay their bills? Or does a private company that provides basic services, and lacks serious competitors in its market have a larger obligation to the public?

2Responses

Niels Swinkels's picture
votes
By Niels Swinkels on January 20, 2010 - 9:11am.

The latter. Private company or not: you cannot deny people access to fundamental services such as gas and electricity, just because they cannot pay their bills. You wouldn't (shouldn't!) deny them water and a working sewer either.

Zoe Corneli's picture
votes
By Zoe Corneli on January 21, 2010 - 4:12pm.

It seems to me that if a company a) is regulated, b) has a monopoly and c) provides essential services, then it would be fundamentally unjust for it to charge more for those services than residents can afford.