A bill to express the sense of Congress regarding the need for a nationwide moratorium on electric and natural gas utility disconnections during the nationwide emergency relating to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4029 To express the sense of Congress regarding the need for a nationwide morato- rium on electric and natural gas utility disconnections during the nation- wide emergency relating to the spread of the novel coronavirus. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 22, 2020 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To express the sense of Congress regarding the need for a nationwide moratorium on electric and natural gas utility disconnections during the nationwide emergency relating to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4029.IS S4029 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4029 IS SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE NEED 1 FOR A NATIONWIDE MORATORIUM ON ELEC- 2 TRIC AND NATURAL GAS UTILITY DIS- 3 CONNECTIONS DURING THE NATIONWIDE 4 EMERGENCY RELATING TO THE SPREAD OF 5 THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that, for the duration of 7 the emergency involving Federal primary responsibility de- 8 termined to exist by the President under section 501(b) 9 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 10 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191(b)) with respect to the 11 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19), each relevant 12 State regulatory authority and each electric or natural gas 13 utility that sells electric energy or natural gas to a con- 14 sumer should ensure that— 15 (1) no electric or natural gas service to a con- 16 sumer is terminated; 17 (2) reasonable efforts are made to safely recon- 18 nect electric and natural gas consumers that have 19 lost service; 20 (3) no electric or natural gas consumer is 21 charged for reconnection services; 22 (4) late fees and other penalties are waived for 23 electric and natural gas consumers; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4029.IS S4029 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4029 IS (5) there are no increases in cost-of-service to 1 electric and natural gas consumers. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4029.IS S4029 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS