On September 17, the Public Service Commission (PSC) voted 2-1 to again extend the utility shut-off moratorium until November 1, 2020. Starting on November 1, 2020, the annual winter moratorium for gas and electric customers will go into effect. The annual winter moratorium runs until April 15, 2021.

Since the annual winter moratorium does not cover water utilities, the Commissioners may revisit the moratorium pertaining to water at a later meeting. In the meantime, the PSC will continue their data collection efforts and require utilities submit disconnection plans and other customer data including specifics on disconnection notices, arrears balances and deferred payment agreements.

In July, the three-person Commission extended the moratorium for only residential customers (which previously was set to expire on July 25) until September 1. The moratorium was originally implemented by Gov. Evers in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and high unemployment rates and originally applied to all customer classes, including commercial and industrial.

According to a July PSCW survey of roughly 200 utilities, approximately one-third or 1.4 million residential households, are behind on their utility bills.