Rick Karlin is reporting for the Times Union Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last week signed a bill providing a 180-day moratorium, up until March 31, 2021, on utility cut-offs to those struggling with their bills due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Private utility firms and municipalities cannot turn off electricity, water, gas or phone service to people who say they have been financially hurt by the epidemic. The new law is similar to the rent moratorium designed to help millions of people who have been thrown out of work during the pandemic-driven shutdown. The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Kevin Parker and Assemblymember Walter Mosley, both Brooklyn Democrats. It also requires providers to turn a service back on within 48 hours if it had been shut off since the lockdown began. They also must help customers set up deferred payment plans. Unlike electricity and home heating, there are no statewide low-income assistance program to help people pay their water bills. Drinking water is obviously a vital service for anyone, but the need for frequent hand washing during the pandemic makes it doubly so. The law, Joan Leary Matthews, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Counsel said, is a step toward “utility justice,” for communities of people who have struggled to pay their bills. Read the full story in the Times Union.