Senate postpones vote on National Grid bill defeated by House
April 11th, 2012 at 5:18 pm by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed on Wednesday afternoon abruptly postponed a scheduled vote on a bill to change how National Grid deals with customer defaults, a week after House lawmakers unexpectedly defeated the measure.
The vote was postponed until April 26 at the request of its sponsor, state Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Providence, Senate spokesman Greg Pare told WPRI.com. The bill would amend the Henry Shelton Act to let National Grid recoup losses from low-income residents’ unpaid bills by charging other ratepayers, rather than writing them off as bad debt.
A spokesman for House Speaker Gordon Fox says the House may vote on the proposal again if the Senate passes its version of the bill and sends it over to the other chamber.
• Related: Fox may bring back defeated National Grid bill if Senate OKs it (April 9)
Tags: democrats, general assembly, gordon fox, henry shelton act, national grid, politics, ri division of public utilities, state house
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
Pres Paiva Weed should put the bill in the dead on arrival pile never mind post pone it.
Doesn’t she get it? Consumers have had it…It seems let the consumers pay again…Who the
heck is National Gridagain to force consumers to pay for their debt loss…
I am still upset about the new law passed by the General Assembly last year that I find unconstitutional. Since when does the Gen Assembly have a right to tell me that I have to pay for poor people who can’t pay their bills like national grid with a passed law?
National Grid now charges you 83 cents per bill per month for the year (it comes to 10.00) on both utilities–gas and electric based on the new law. It was Majority Leader Mattiello’s bill..to pay 10.00 for each bill for the poor who can’t pay their utility bills.
Let him pay and claim it on his income tax returns. Who is he and the others who voted on this
bill given the right to force consumers to pay for the poor. That is my right to determine if I wish to support such a group, not them. How come the ACLU isn’t fighting this? They fight for the Cranston prayer banner to be removed but not for the right of consumers to not be forced to pay for the poor who can’t pay their utility bills?
On the bill itself, the money goes to an account called LIHEAP Enhancement– for the poor…
Government should not be telling me to help the poor.
It is between my conscience and God….
I cannot believe that again National Grid gets away with this stuff. They make a profit and it’s a significant profit at that. The General Assembly passed a law years ago saying the utility company has to make a profit. I bet you people out there, did not know this…..
And yet Miller puts in a bill to have us consumers pay the debt of those who don’t pay National grid? Is he a lobbyist for National Grid? This state legislature has gone too far. These lawmakers are pro National Greed and anti RI consumers. They think it’s okay for consumers to foot the bill….
The philosophy seems to be
“Oh, poor Jack can’t pay his bill. he qualifies for LIHEAP so let’s put the burden on John and Jane Connsumer. Let them pay his bill.”
This is what happens when you have a monopoly like National Greed…They now have lawmakers pass a bill saying if the poor can’t pay their bills then let the consumer pay it…
Well, I am a consumer and I have enough problems paying my own bills…To force me to pay for someone else’s bill is wrong, and against my rights.
Come on people…wake up….see what the lawmakers are doing to us…call them up…Tell them to change the law…
Majority leader Mattiello had no business pushing this bill telling the other lawmakers who are wimps and refuse to go against leadership, that he thought it was a good bill.So now, because he thought it was a good bill, it got passed and now all NAtional Grid consumers have to now support the poor.
He is not my conscience or moral compass.
What’s next..will he have a bill to have our water bill pay for poor people’s medicine?
The government should not be forcing me to pay for the poor who can’t pay their bills. This is an infringement on my individual rights and I thought unconstitutional …
Since when can a lawmaker impose their moral values on me by forcing me to pay the bills of poor people.
That is my prerogative as an individual…to give or not give…something I have to decide…
but the general Assembly now forces me to pay …and that takes away our rights to make decisions about charity contributions….
Don’t pay the .83 cents each month, I’m not. N. Grid cannot turn you off unless your past due is $500 or more. That will take years at .83 per mth. I do have a question, why work any more?? I know dems cannot answer that!
to oreo
I was thinking of doing that…just subtract the 83 cents..Are you sure they can’t do anything to me?
This LIHEAP required assessments levied by the General Assembly sure sound like taxes to me!! And the General Assembly says it hasn’t raised taxes………
Oreo, I love your idea.
LIHEAP is a tax! Ask the Dems if they ever heard of the Good Neighbor Fund, a voluntary method of contributing to those less fortunate.
This is nothing more than Obama-like spreading of the wealth. Let’s not create a vibrant economy in RI where more and more people can find gainful employment from companies that want to set up for business here. Instead 77 years of Dem control of our state have put us at the bottom of every business/economic ranking done on the States. I guess Gordon & Co. are happy that we are at the top of the taxation lists!
These are the things that prompted me to run for the GA in 2010 and why I will run again in 2012, no matter how they work to gerrymander me out of District 47. If we continue to defeat their measures in the GA the battle will surely become uglier. That is what we need before RI can undergo true reform. But if we can continue to fight and start to win, we may still have a chance to save this once great state.
Is this a postponement because they need more votes? The only way to stop this is to elect REPUBLICAN candidates this November. The Democrats are destroying Rhode Island. Our cities are nearly bankrupt and our Democrat lead legislature continues to push poor legislation like this!
The Democrats rig it all! They rigged redistricting, and they know the outcome of the votes on most all bills before they even hit the floor. This crap has been going on for decades. It is time to send them a clear message in November!
The Democratic legislature gives more Rhode Islanders another reason not to work and EARN a living, but to play the generous social welfare system. This “Free Stuff” is getting expensive for most of us.
I’m $ure the lobbying effort$ of National Grid paid off. It’$ not just direct contribution$, but National Grid doing busine$$ for operating supplies with certain people “in case some legislation comes up.”
STOP HELPING PEOPLE WHO WON’T HELP THEMSELVES! I am tired of supporting the underprivaleged, stop motivating people to find ways to get on government aid. It is time for the people who getting these type of funds to be held accountable for their actions.
Really people,do you really think the working poor don’t also share your veiws?