What does it take to ensure equitable energy service?
New video breaks down the essential building blocks
Access to energy service is not a luxury — it is essential for every household’s health, safety, and wellbeing. But for far too many Americans for far too long — and for so many more due to the coronavirus pandemic — keeping the lights on is not an equal opportunity proposition.
Year in and year out, tens of millions of US households are continually vulnerable to losing essential energy services due to rising energy burdens and debt. These are households living on the lowest incomes, including many elderly, who are spending the highest percentage of their total income on utility bills. In fact, utility bill payment is the number one reason that consumers take payday, or other short-term, high-interest loans — a debt trap that leads many to bankruptcy.
Rather than keeping their customers caught in an ever-increasing debt spiral, utilities and regulators can and should institute better protections for vulnerable households — during times of crisis, and all year ’round.
This new video breaks down the five key steps energy companies and regulators must take to ensure equitable energy service for all Americans. The recommendations are based on expert research and analysis from the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), Vote Solar, Pace Energy and Climate Center, and others.
Because access to energy service is essential for all.
Links to learn more:
- Principles for Protecting Electric Utility Customers in the Regulatory Response to COVID-19 (Vote Solar)
- COVID-19 and the Utility Bill Debt Crisis (Vote Solar)
- Utility shutoff bans are in effect for many families, but what happens when they end? (NCLC)
- Reversing Energy System Inequity: Urgency and Opportunity During the Clean Energy Transition (NCLC, Vote Solar, Pace Energy and Climate Center, NW Energy Coalition, and Colgan Consulting)
- The Need for Utility Reporting of Key Credit and Collections Data Now and After the Covid-19 Crisis (NCLC)
