In 27 states, utilities can shut off power for nonpayment even during a heat wave

From coast to coast, tens of millions of Americans are experiencing sweltering temperatures this summer, with little relief in sight. For individuals who can't afford or don't need air-con, the rising need for cooling is becoming an ever-increasing crisis.

An alarming variety of Americans are vulnerable to losing access to utility services because they can’t pay their bills. Energy Utilities in 2022 disconnect no less than 3 million customers from the electricity grid who had not paid a bill. Over 30% of those interruptions occurred within the three summer months, in a 12 months that amongst the most popular since weather records began.

In some cases, the outage lasted only a couple of hours. In other cases, people were without power for days or even weeks and needed to desperately try to boost enough money to revive the service. Often, nevertheless, their power was then cut off again.

As researchers who study Energy justice and energy insecuritywe consider the United States is within the midst of an influence shutoff crisis. We have begun tracking these power shutoffs at each utility across the country, and we consider the crisis will only worsen because the impacts of climate change develop into more widespread and severe.

We consider it’s time for presidency agencies and utilities to think about household energy security as a national priority.

One in 4 households is affected by energy insecurity

Americans tend to think about power outages as something rare and temporary. For most, it's a rare inconvenience attributable to a heat wave or storm.

But for tens of millions of US households, the specter of an influence outage is a relentless worry. According to the most recent data from the US Energy Information Administration, 1 in 4 American households face some type of energy insecurity yearly, no noticeable improvement over the past decade.

Many low-income households are vulnerable to power cuts repeats month after monthIn a recent study, we found that over the course of a single 12 months half of all households whose electricity was turned off needed to take care of multiple power cuts because that they had difficulty paying their bills.

Such energy uncertainty is especially common amongst low-income AmericansPeople of color, families with young children, individuals who depend on electronic medical devices, or people living in poor housing. In the primary 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that Black and Hispanic households were three and 4 times more more likely to experience utility outages than white households.

In addition to existing financial constraints, people in lots of areas are facing rising electricity prices, rising inflation and better temperatures that require cooling. Some are also facing a history of redlining and poor urban planning that has led to certain populations living in less efficient homes. Taken together, the crisis is clear.

Coping strategies can endanger health

We found that over half of all low-income households apply some coping strategiesand most of them find that they need multiple strategies at the identical time.

To lower your expenses, they turn off the air-con in the summertime, allowing the heater to succeed in uncomfortable and potentially dangerous temperatures. Or they forgo food or medicine to pay their energy bills, or they strategically pay one bill as a substitute of one other, a process often called “bill balancing.” Others resort to short-term loans that temporarily help them but ultimately push them deeper into debt. Our research finds that essentially the most common coping strategies are also the riskiest.

If people fall behind on their bills, there’s a risk that their electricity provider will cut off their connection.

The failure of critical energy services can mean that the people affected cannot Houses cool – or warm within the winter months – or food kept cool all 12 months round. Barriers can mean that folks with illnesses or disabilities cannot keep medicines cool or medical devices chargedAnd in times of maximum cold or heat, the failure of energy supplies can fatal consequences.

Where shutdown rates are highest

Our research team developed the Utility disruption dashboardby recording disruptions to utility services wherever data is obtainable.

In recent years, a growing variety of states have required regulated utilities across the country to reveal the number of consumers they disconnect. However, state regulations apply only to the utilities they regulate. Public utilities and cooperatives, which serve over 20% of U.S. electricity customers, are sometimes not included, creating massive gaps in understanding the total extent of the issue.

The Data now we have shows that shutoff rates skyrocket through the summer months and are typically highest within the Southeast. Large, investor-owned utilities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Indiana have average shutoff rates of nearly 1% of consumers, and a few municipal utilities have had even higher rates.

Only 23 states restrict summer shutdowns

State utility commissions set certain limits on the circumstances under which utilities can disconnect customers, but summer heat is commonly neglected.

Except for a handful of states, utility firms limit the disconnection of consumers through the winter months or on extremely cold days. For most, no less than some medical exceptions apply.

But greater than half of the states set no limits within the event of supply interruptions through the summer months or on very popular days.

Only 23 states and the District of Columbia have such summer protections, which generally consist of setting periods or temperatures during which customers can’t be disconnected from their service. Virginia is the most recent state to adopt such a policyThe protective measures will come into force on 1 July 2024.

We consider that within the era of climate change, it’s unsustainable for states to forgo temperature protection measures as increasingly parts of the country are expected to experience increasing numbers of days of maximum heat.

These government measures provide a basis of protection. We have learned through the COVID-19 pandemicMoratoriums that prohibit interruptions to public utilities will help reduce energy insecurity.

But these policies vary greatly from country to country, and details about consumer protection are sometimes difficult for people to seek out and understand.

Better rules and a brand new way of occupied with the correct to energy

We consider the United States needs stronger consumer protections. States, if not the federal government, need to higher disclose when and where disconnections occur to discover any systemic biases.

Most importantly, we consider Americans need a collective rethinking of energy access. That should start with the principle that every one people must have access to essential energy services and that utilities should only interrupt service to their customers as a final resort, especially during health-threatening weather events.

The country cannot wait for deadly heat waves to prove the importance of protecting American homes.

This is an update of an article originally published on July 5, 2023.