It is declared that it is a policy of the State to insure an adequate transmission and distribution utility service to older citizens at a price they can afford. Older citizens today face a special crisis in surviving under the constant increase in the cost of living and particularly in the cost of fuel and utility services. It is the purpose of lifeline transmission and distribution service to alleviate the upward spiral in the cost of transmission and distribution service to older citizens and at the same time to encourage as well as reward the conservation of scarce energy supplies by adopting the approach of constant per unit cost for the use of electricity. It is the policy of the State that older citizens be able to receive transmission and distribution service for basic necessities of modern life, such as lighting and refrigeration, at a stable, fair and reasonable minimum cost and to encourage the reduction of electricity consumption for all other uses beyond such basic necessities. [PL 1999, c. 398, Pt. A, §67 (AMD); PL 1999, c. 398, Pt. A, §§104, 105 (AFF).]