SB 604 West Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Requiring Department of Human Services to notify PSC that person is eligible for discount on utility bills

SB 604 requires West Virginia’s Department of Human Services (DHS) to automatically notify the Public Service Commission (PSC) when a person qualifies for utility bill discounts through programs like SSI, TANF, or SNAP. This eliminates the need for customers to apply separately, as the PSC must then order utilities to apply a 20% discount for eligible households during December through April billing months. The bill specifically limits eligibility to named beneficiaries of these programs and their spouses. It streamlines access to existing discounts by shifting the notification responsibility from individuals to DHS.

Issues: ✓ Energy

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 26, 2025 Last action Mar 11, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to modernize utility discount eligibility by updating assistance program names (adding TANF and SNAP), clarifying that discounts apply only to named beneficiaries and their spouses, and requiring the Department of Human Services to automatically notify utilities of eligible customers without requiring applications from the customers themselves.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include water and sewer utilities in addition to gas and electric utilities, and eligibility criteria were clarified to specifically limit discounts to named beneficiaries and their spouses rather than just household members.

ELIGIBILITY

Updated assistance program names from AFDC/food stamps to TANF/SNAP to reflect current federal program names.

Added requirement that utility accounts must be in the name of the benefit recipient or their spouse to qualify for discounts.

REQUIREMENT

Changed process from customer applying for discounts to Department of Human Services automatically notifying utilities of eligible customers.

Added requirement for Department of Human Services to obtain waiver of confidentiality from eligible persons.

SCOPE

Extended discount program to include privately owned water and sewer utilities.

TIMELINE

Updated the deadline for establishing utility service name changes from March 12, 1983 to July 1, 2011.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 11, 2025

Committee

To Finance

upper

Mar 11, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee substitute reported, but first to Finance

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Committee

To Judiciary

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Committee

To Judiciary then Finance

upper

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors