At least three million U.S. utility customers have their power disconnected each year, an issue which is receiving new political scrutiny due to heat waves and climate change.
University and director of the Energy Justice Lab, and he says climate change is forcing a new conversation about the issue.showing utility disconnect data in each state and existing shutoff-shielding legislation, if any, in place. Part of making the dashboard was overlaying forecast excessive heat days along with protections that exist or don't exist and factoring in climate change. The outlook is grim, Konisky says.
As of 2021, 29 states had seasonal protections and 23 had temperature-based disconnection protections, but Konisky's research shows that these do not fully prohibit disconnections, often putting the onus on customers to demonstrate eligibility for an exemption, such as medical need. Most states , plus Washington D.C., give customers the option to set up a payment plan as an alternative to disconnection, though interest may be steep and income-based repayment is not often an option.
"The challenge is we have commodified life-sustaining requirements. We are a first-world development country, but we have commodified things like power, air-conditioning, and lighting," Tuck said.