California Public Utility Commission Approves Permanent Disaster Protections for California LifeLine Customers

The California Public Utilities Commission approved permanent, automatic disaster relief protections for customers enrolled in the California LifeLine program, helping ensure that low-income Californians can maintain access to essential communications services when disasters cause a disruption. Under the decision, affected California LifeLine customers will receive:

• Temporary relief from non-usage requirements during qualifying disasters, helping prevent customers from losing California LifeLine service because they are unable to use their service during an emergency.
• Temporary relief from annual renewal requirements, giving customers additional time to recover from a disaster and replace lost documents, devices, or other essential items.
• At least 30 days of disaster protections, with an automatic extension when communications service remains disrupted or evacuation or shelter-in-place restrictions remain in effect.
• Waived activation, connection, and conversion fees for affected California LifeLine customers while the emergency protections are active.
• Improved emergency outreach, including coordination with 2-1-1 service providers so customers can more easily find information about California LifeLine and available disaster protections.