Millions of Americans could lose their electricity as COVID-19 shutoff moratoriums expire<\/h1>\n

By Michael Thomas<\/p>\n

In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans lost their jobs as the economy ground to a near halt. Unemployment rose to levels not seen since the Great Depression.<\/p>\n

Shortly afterwards states around the country passed emergency laws to protect the most vulnerable people. In 32 states, governors and public utility commissions (PUCs) passed utility shut-off moratoriums<\/strong> to ensure that no households lost their electricity because they couldn\u2019t pay their bill.<\/p>\n

Six months later many of those moratoriums have expired or are set to expire in the next month. Between May and mid-August, 10 states allowed their moratoriums to expire. In the next month another 14 state moratoriums will expire. That means by October 1st a total of 36 states won\u2019t have moratoriums in place.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In order to understand the impact of these policy changes, Carbon Switch analyzed data provided by public utility commissions in these states, unemployment data, and energy spending data. Our goal was to understand how many people could be at risk of losing their electricity this year.<\/p>\n

Key highlights<\/h3>\n

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• In the next month 34.5 million households will lose their utility shutoff protections as moratoriums in 14 states expire.<\/strong> About 4 million of those households are currently below the federal poverty line. 4 million people in those states are unemployed. <\/li>\n
• 76 million American households won\u2019t have utility shutoff moratoriums after October 1st.<\/strong> By that point moratoriums will be voluntary in 36 states. About 10 million of the households in those states are currently below the federal poverty line. Another 9.5 million people in those states are unemployed.<\/li>\n
• In some states 33% of utility customers are behind on bills.<\/strong> In North Carolina 1,369,786 households are behind on payments. When the statewide moratorium expires on September 1st they will all be at risk of losing their power.<\/li>\n
• 8 of the country’s 10 biggest utilities will shut off customers\u2019 power by Sept 15.<\/strong> These utilities serve 53 million Americans. The only two utilities that won\u2019t resume shut offs by September 15th are PG&E and SCE, California-based utilities that legally can\u2019t resume shutoffs until at least next year due to the state\u2019s moratorium.<\/li>\n
• Black families are twice as likely to have their power shut off as white families.<\/strong> According to the 2009 United States Energy Information Administration\u2019s Residential Energy Consumption Survey African American households at or below 150% of the federal poverty level were shut off twice as frequently as white households (11.3% compared to 5.5%).<\/li>\n
• Utility shutoffs cost lives, people\u2019s health, and their dignity.<\/strong> Every year brings stories of people killed after their power is shut off (often due to fires and heat stroke). A recent study showed that people often forgo essentials like food in order to save up enough money to get the power back on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Millions will be at risk of losing power<\/h3>\n

  In the next month utility shutoff moratoriums will expire in 14 states. As you can see in the second column of the table below there are ~34.5 million households in those states. About 4 million of those households are below the federal poverty line according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And another 4 million people in those states are unemployed according to data released last week by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.<\/p>\n

  By October 1st moratoriums will be voluntary in 36 states meaning that investor-owned utilities can shut off the power on some of the most vulnerable people in America. As you can see in the third column in the table below, there are 76 million American households in those states. About 10 million of them are below the federal poverty line. And 9.5 million people in those states are unemployed. <\/p>\n

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  Where will people be at risk?\u00a0<\/h3>\n

  The map below shows the number of unemployed people in states with utility shutoff moratoriums that won\u2019t be active after October 1st.\u00a0<\/p>\n

  Click a state to learn more<\/strong> about how many people will be at risk in any given place.\u00a0Note: Grey states have moratoriums that last beyond October 1st.<\/em><\/p>\n

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