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rate hikes
Ratepayers Launch a National Escalation for Utility Justice
From the Sun Belt to New England, over two dozen coordinated actions were held in 17 states to fight back against monopoly utility companies’ rate hikes and greenwashing.
Aug 20, 2024
Across the country, families rely on utility companies to provide the power we need to heat and cool our homes, cook, bathe, and charge the devices we rely on. But instead of focusing on delivering clean, affordable, reliable power to ratepayers, for-profit utility companies are hiking rates on working families while doubling down on fossil fuels. As temperatures rise and utility bills soar, working families have had enough.
This month, ratepayers launched a nationwide escalation for utility justice. From the Sun Belt to New England, over two dozen coordinated actions were held in 17 states to fight back against utility rate hikes and greenwashing. This is a powerful beginning to a locally led, national movement to demand clean, renewable energy from for-profit utility companies, and stop rate hikes for dirty power.
In New Hampshire, climate activists are opposing a 16% rate hike that has been proposed by Eversource, which serves over 70% of the state. The increase is currently under review by the public utilities commission (PUC). The governor-appointed public utilities commission approved the rate hike, as they have with every cost increase that the utility companies have proposed in the last three years. After grassroots organizers stopped Liberty Utilities, another New Hampshire utility company, from building the Granite Bridge fracked gas pipeline in 2020, Liberty attempted to recoup more than $7 million they spent toward the proposal by raising electricity rates. The public utilities commission denied Liberty’s outrageous request, but this is not the first time a utility company has tried to put their expensive failed fossil fuel projects in ratepayers’ utility bills.
There is a long precedent of publicly-owned, democratically-controlled utility companies in the United States and around the world, and no reason why we should assume dirty, corporate-controlled utility companies relying on energy sources of the 1900s have to be our future.
The fights happening in New Hampshire with utility companies are familiar across the country. From Buffalo, New York to the Bay Area of California, ratepayers are protesting and organizing to hold for-profit utility corporations accountable for squeezing ratepayers to pad their pockets while burning the planet.
In Nevada, working families, ratepayers, and climate activists are fighting to stop NV Energy from nearly tripling its monthly fixed service charge on electric bills from $16.50 to $44.40 while lowering the volumetric charge. This regressive policy means ratepayers who use less energy will be charged more, while heavy energy users, like wealthy corporations, will be charged less—it’s wrong. Nevada is one of the fastest-heating states in the nation, and relies on electricity to keep communities comfortable. With NV Energy’s monopoly power and rising temperatures, Nevadans feel like the odds are stacked against them.
Like many for-profit utility companies, NV Energy is raising rates and burning the planet, instead of capitalizing on the plentiful solar capacity of the Sun Belt state it serves. Nevadans are pushing the Public Utilities Commission to stand up for clean, affordable, reliable energy. With an unprecedented $369 billion in federal investments unlocked in the two-year-old Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to support the transition to clean energy, utility corporations have no excuse, besides greed, to keep charging ratepayers for dirty, expensive, unreliable power.
While companies have raised electricity prices nearly 31% since 2021, and over of a quarter of Americans struggle to pay their utility bills, activists are fighting to stop rate hikes, stop expansions of dirty power, and pressure lawmakers to stop taking political contributions from the utility corporations they are responsible for regulating.
Local communities are right to hold utility corporations accountable for raising costs on families and stalling action on clean energy. But the underlying structure of monopoly utility companies is not sustainable. When given a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transition to a sustainable energy future through the IRA, they opt to expand gas lines and invest in dirty power. Utility Corporations are failing to reimagine how growing electricity needs could be met with wind, solar, geothermal, energy efficiency, and energy conservation efforts.They have no incentive to lower costs for families, and every incentive to use their massive lobbying power to influence policy and raise rates.
Despite the money we pay each month, for-profit utility companies are not accountable to us, and their monopoly power leaves us with no alternatives. The system is rigged, but it does not have to be this way.
Together, we can change the rules. There is a long precedent of publicly-owned, democratically-controlled utility companies in the United States and around the world, and no reason why we should assume dirty, corporate-controlled utility companies relying on energy sources of the 1900s have to be our future. Now is the time to demand utility justice, to ensure clean, affordable, and reliable energy for all in a way that puts people and the planet first.
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Greedy Utilities Pass Climate Costs on to Customers: Here’s How to Stop Them
Transitioning 100% away from fossil fuels to renewables is paramount to making energy affordable and accessible for all.
Jul 19, 2024
In the midst of hot, humid Florida summers, air conditioning is a necessity. But due to skyrocketing electricity bills, it’s out of reach for many.
Tampa Electric Company (TECO) customers paid some of the highest residential electricity bills in the country last year. Now, the utility is asking for another rate hike that would raise families’ bills by an additional more than $200 a year.
This problem extends far beyond the Sunshine State. And one major source of these growing costs? The climate crisis.
To ensure everyone has access to essential power, we need to tackle climate change and swiftly transition off of fossil fuels.
Rising temperatures and climate-fueled disasters are making electricity more expensive than ever. Across Florida and nationwide, cities are enduring record-breaking heat and are preparing for an unprecedented hurricane season. This summer, electric bills may cost families an average of $719—a nearly 8% increase from last year and the highest in 10 years.
These costs are forcing people to choose between unaffordable power and other necessities, like food and medicine. “Aside from unreasonable rate hikes, my May usage was up 10% from last year because of rising heat,” says David Coleman, a retiree living in Hillsborough County, Florida. “I pay that bill out of my United Healthcare healthy food benefit. Less for food; more for energy.”
Under the status quo, this problem will only get worse, as climate disasters balloon the costs of repairs and adaptation. To ensure everyone has access to essential power, we need to tackle climate change and swiftly transition off of fossil fuels
Outages and Adaptation Costs Will Make Electricity Inaccessible
Much of the nation’s grid is already old and declining in reliability. Climate change will make matters worse. According to one study, the annual economic impacts of climate change on the grid could reach $24 billion in 2090—and that’s not even accounting for floods, hurricanes, or ice storms. Much of these costs could be passed onto us through rate hikes.
In addition to adaptation costs, extreme weather is causing more service outages that cut off families’ access to electricity. And by mid-century, service outages could cost customers $1.5 to $3.4 trillion.
Moreover, the same extreme weather that causes these outages makes electricity needs even more dire—like heatwaves, for instance. The consequences of this have been dangerous, even fatal. In Louisiana, power outages following Hurricane Ida contributed to at least 21 heat-related deaths.
Climate Disasters Wreak Havoc on Our Power Infrastructure
Disasters like flooding, winter storms, and hurricanes will also exacerbate these problems. They can damage electricity infrastructure, causing more service outages and raising costs as utilities scramble to adapt and repair.
For example, climate change is worsening the intensity of winter storms, which are damaging power infrastructure more and more. In 2020, Maine saw 12 weather-related service outages—though it had never had more than five per year up to 2018.
To the South, storms are exacting huge costs in adaptations to power infrastructure. Following destructive hurricanes, Florida Power & Light spent $3 billion on storm hardening from 2006 to 2017. Considering average household electricity use in the state, Florida Power & Light’s storm hardening efforts may cost customers an additional $140 in 2025.
Fossil-fueled energy is dangerous and unsustainable. It not only contributes to the climate crisis—it is less resilient to climate disasters.
Just this month, Hurricane Beryl led to power outages for almost 3 million Texans. A week later, as the heat index soared toward triple digits, more than 200,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area still lacked power. Beryl arrived earlier in the year than any Category 5 hurricane on record, fueled by abnormally warm waters in the Atlantic Ocean.
Meanwhile, in the West, wildfires threaten infrastructure like above-ground transmission lines, causing insurance rates to soar. In Washington, insurance companies are charging some utilities million-dollar surcharges for wildfire risks. And utilities can pass these new costs directly onto customers.
Energy Companies Are Skimming Profits From Rate Hikes
We need more climate adaptation for our country’s power infrastructure. But the costs shouldn’t burden families that already must choose between electricity and other essentials—nor should they serve as cover for boosting utility profits.
Yet, that’s exactly what’s happening in many utilities across the country, including Florida’s TECO.
“With rate increases, energy bills have gone up to the benefit of those shareholders who invest in TECO’s Canadian mother company, Emera,” said Tampa-based Sierra Club organizer Walter L. Smith II. “Meanwhile, people in underserved frontline communities continue to suffer because of TECO’s bad practices that contribute to public health issues and economic strife. This devastation cannot go on.”
In Louisiana, electric company Entergy raised rates by $8 a month after destructive hurricanes caused billions of dollars in damages in 2020 and 2021. At the same time, it was doling out $1.5 billion in dividends to shareholders and gave its CEO a $4 million raise.
Last year, in California, the state Public Utilities Commission approved billions for system hardening for Pacific Gas & Electric and rate hikes to cover it. Now, Pacific is the most expensive power provider in the state, and monthly bills in 2024 may be as much as $50 higher than they were last year. At the same time, the company saw $2.2 billion in profits in 2023 and expects to rack up even more in 2024.
We Need Renewables for Reliable, Affordable Power
Fossil-fueled energy is dangerous and unsustainable. It not only contributes to the climate crisis—it is less resilient to climate disasters.
For example, in 2021, a winter freeze in Texas left 10 million people without electricity. Gas-powered systems neared collapse, partly because they couldn’t produce energy in the cold. During the crisis, all fuel sources underperformed—except solar.
Besides cutting off essential heat during winter storms, the crisis also slammed Texans in their wallets. The state’s Public Utilities Commission ordered maximum electricity prices of $9,000/MWh, leaving residents with jaw-dropping bills.
Without good policy, the costs of these overhauls will fall unfairly on families, making essential electricity increasingly out of reach.
Transitioning 100% away from fossil fuels to renewables is paramount to making energy affordable and accessible for all. It will keep the grid reliable and cut emissions, reducing the costs of climate change. One study found that adaptation and lowering emissions could each halve the estimated economic impacts on our power system by 2090. Fighting climate change and lowering energy bills go hand in hand.
“Any further investment into fossil fuels and gas for energy is a waste of money and a dire waste of time,” says Calista Snider, a Tampa resident, biologist, and member of the Hillsborough Affordable Energy Coalition. “New investments and infrastructure for fossil fuel energy will not only cost us our health and our planet; they have been proven to cost us more financially, as well.”
Nevertheless, corporations are still pouring resources into fossil fuels. TECO, for instance, is building a gas pipeline and converting a power station to run on gas.
That’s because building fossil power is much better for companies’ bottom lines than renewables, and that’s because, under the current system, they can recover more profits the more they spend on infrastructure. Under the status quo, utilities are disincentivized from making climate-saving changes, like energy efficiency and investing in renewables.
We’re Fighting for Affordable, Clean Energy
Nationwide, it’s clear that we need to overhaul our energy systems to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. The price of inaction is high and only climbing as the climate crisis intensifies.
But without good policy, the costs of these overhauls will fall unfairly on families, making essential electricity increasingly out of reach. Meanwhile, power companies will continue profiting off rate hikes and expanding expensive, polluting infrastructure.
We can’t let this happen. In Florida, Food & Water Watch is working with the Hillsborough Affordable Energy Coalition and the statewide Clean Energy for All table. Together, we’re fighting to stop rate hikes and pass policy that makes utility companies do right by their customers, not their shareholders. That includes stopping fossil fuel expansion and prioritizing renewables and energy efficiency.
Without action like this across the country, the price of keeping the lights on will continue to rise. But we can change course and ensure clean, affordable energy for everyone.
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'Disconnection Crisis': Power Shutoffs Put Poor at Risk as Heatwaves Ravage US
"For households who will be shut off from electricity this summer because they cannot afford their bills, even being inside their homes is dangerous," a new report says.
Jul 17, 2024
Low-income Americans face climbing energy costs and the possibility of summertime power shutoffs—even amid a devastating heatwave—if they can't pay their utility bills, thanks to a lack of legal protections in most states, a report issued Tuesday by a pair of advocacy groups warns.
The Center for Energy Poverty and Climate (EPC) and the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) released the report, which calls for an increase in federal funding to address the issue, as more than 100 million Americans this week face heat advisories and extreme temperatures driven by climate change become increasingly common.
Many low-income people face the prospect of extreme heat inside their own homes, as 31 states offer no summer shutoff protections, the groups said.
"For households who will be shut off from electricity this summer because they cannot afford their bills, even being inside their homes is dangerous," the report says. "In less extreme situations, a family can ride out a hot day by opening their windows, taking a cool shower, and hoping it cools down at night. But when the heat persists for weeks, or the outside air is dangerous, opening a window will only make things worse."
Millions of US low-income households face power shut-offs amid deadly heat.
Half of Americans live in states without rules restricting disconnections for unpaid or overdue bills, report finds. https://t.co/0WYJHmwJ4e
— Watchdog Progressive (@Watchdogsniffer) July 16, 2024
EPC and NEADA estimated that the average American household will spend $719 on cooling costs between June and September of 2024, an 8.7% increase over last year. The rising costs of basic goods has left low-income households forced to decide between paying for food, energy, rent, and other essentials such as medicine, the report says.
Despite the increased need, federal funding to help low-income Americans cover their energy costs declined in fiscal year 2024. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program budget was cut significantly—from $6.1 billion to $4.1 billion—and only 12% is estimated to be allotted to summer cooling initiatives.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives initiated the cut, which they attempted to make even more dramatic. EPC and NEADA have called for the funding to be restored, and progressive lawmakers have regularly pushed for more funding for the energy needs of low-income Americans in recent years.
Power shutoffs in summer months are common across much of the U.S., and were faced by roughly 1 million customers or more in 2022, according to Sanya Carley and David Konisky, two energy insecurity researchers who wrote about what they call the "disconnection crisis" in The Conversation on Wednesday.
One in four Americans faces energy insecurity—a figure that hasn't improved in the last decade, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The problem is prevalent among people with less than two times the federal poverty line income, and especially common in Black and Hispanic households, a 2021 study in Nature Energy found.
Though data are incomplete, disconnections are known to be high in certain parts of the U.S., including the South. "Large investor-owned utilities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Indiana have averaged disconnection rates near 1% of customers, and some city utilities have been even higher," Carley and Konisky wrote.
The monopolistic power that utilities hold, including their influence in state capitals, contributes to the high prices and the lack of protections. "Energy companies are skimming profits from rate hikes," Food and Water Watch wrote in a briefing released Wednesday, citing examples in California, Louisiana, and Florida.
Residents feel the squeeze and are forced into terribly difficult choices—made worse by the extreme weather caused by climate change.
"Aside from unreasonable rate hikes, my May usage was up 10% from last year because of rising heat," David Coleman, a retiree in Florida, told Food and Water Watch. "I pay that bill out of my UnitedHealthcare healthy food benefit. Less for food; more for energy."
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