This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utility companies could be banned from assessing a fee on customers' utility bills to assist low-income customers who can't pay their bills under legislation being proposed by Rep. Carl Wimmer.
Currently, both Questar and Rocky Mountain Power add the extra fee, but the Herriman Republican says it's wrong for utilities to be "taking money from their customers without asking first."
Wimmer said it was an issue he became aware of when a constituent brought to his attention that the fees were being assessed on their bills.
"They don't give the utility permission to take their money and just give it to someone else," Wimmer said. If the companies want to raise the money, customers should sign up and agree to the extra charge.
Darren Shepherd, a spokesman for Questar, said the average fee for the utilitiy's customers is 10 cents per month, or about $1.20 per year. But collected from all of the gas company's customers, it generates $1.5 million to help qualifying low-income residents around the state. Those individuals can get up to $37 per month toward their gas bill.
The fee was approved by the Public Service Commission last year and the company began collecting the fee in August
"We were just recently made aware of Rep. Wimmer's bill," Shepherd said, adding that the company will comply with the wishes of the Legislature and the regulators.