Utility cut-offs on the rise in the US

Due to the economic crisis, utilities "are under pressure to clean out accounts that are weighing down their books at a time when their stocks are being hammered and earnings growth has slowed," the WSJ reports. The more aggressive stance toward delinquent payments comes at a time when more and more households are unable to meet high fuel costs due to job losses.

At the same time, new digital power meters and "service limiters" now make it easier for power companies to shut off electricity. With standard meters, to disconnect power it was necessary for an electricity supplier to send out a technician. The cost of this labor had to be factored into the cost of any power suspension. With the new wireless meters, which are being installed by the millions, the power companies can suspend or reduce to a trickle electric service as a means of compelling customers to pay their bills. One state energy assistance directory told the World Socialist Web Site that "all the new meters are just punitive collection devices."

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http://wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/cuts-n06.shtml