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Utilities

Electric Utilities Took $1.25 Billion In Bailouts, Shut Off Power Nearly 1 Million Times

October 2, 2021 Shravya Jain-conti, Center for Biological Diversity. , , ,
The report shows that utilities wielded political power to secure beneficial tax-code changes in the CARES Act but defied calls to grant their own customers temporary relief. Instead, 16 utilities suspended or canceled electric service to nearly 1 million households between February 2020 and June 2021, leaving people without hot water, refrigeration, air conditioning and medical devices.

How A Black And Latinx Coalition Turned Utilities Back On In LaGrange

February 21, 2021 Lewis Raven Wallace, Scalawag Magazine. , , , ,
Anton Flores thought it would be simple to help someone get their water turned back on.  "I had a single mom, who was undocumentable, whose utilities had been cut off, and she came to me," Flores, an immigration activist in the small Georgia city of LaGrange, said. He helped new immigrants navigate unfamiliar systems frequently. He figured all they had to do was come up with the money—so they did. Together, they went down to the municipal utility office. But it turned out, getting utilities turned on in LaGrange was a lot more complicated than having the money to pay.  In fact, for the undocumented woman in question, it was impossible: with no social security number, the municipal clerk denied her request.

‘The Most Basic Form Of PPE’: 1.6 Million Households Face Water Shutoffs

February 2, 2021 Jackie Botts, Cal Matters. , , ,
The first thing Deborah Bell-Holt does each morning is check whether water still flows from her bathroom faucet. It always does, thanks to an April executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom banning water disconnections during the pandemic. But that didn’t stop her utility debt from snowballing to nearly $15,000. “They say you’re safe,” said the 67-year-old retired nurse, who manages finances for her household of twelve in South Los Angeles. “But you see that bill. How is that supposed to make you feel? You’re scared to death.” At least 1.6 million California households, or one in eight, have water debt.

In Coronavirus Crisis, 575 Groups Urge Halt To Electricity, Water Shutoffs

March 21, 2020 Staff, The Center for Biological DIversity , , , ,
WASHINGTON - More than 575 utility justice, labor, faith, consumer and environmental groups urged state governors, mayors and utility regulators today to put a moratorium on electricity and water-utility shutoffs in response to the coronavirus crisis and resulting job losses. Today’s letter also called for deeper policy changes that deploy distributed solar and establish percentage-of-income water-payment systems to address the systemic issues leading to shutoffs.

“Our Biggest Enemy Is PG&E”: Inside The Fight To Put Utilities Under Public Control

December 12, 2019 By Nuala Bishari, Inthesetimes.com , ,
SANTA ROSA, Calif.—“We’ve been evacuated twice in the past five years,” J.D. Opperman tells a small crowd of around 30 who had gathered to protest Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in downtown Santa Rosa on Nov. 16, 2019. Among the protesters were members of the Marin, North Bay and East Bay chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). They held handmade signs reading “PG&E: The ultimate homewrecker” and “PG&E: Poster child for the corporate death penalty.”

How PG&E’s Power Shutoffs Sparked An East Bay Disability Rights Campaign

November 11, 2019 Matthew Green, Kqed.org ,
Stacey Milbern didn't lose power during the recent blackouts, but if she had, things could have gotten dicey fast. Milbern, whose East Oakland apartment was just outside PG&E's public safety power shutoff zone, has muscular dystrophy and uses a ventilator to breathe. For her and other members of the disability community — many of whom depend on electrical devices like ventilators, CPAP machines and wheelchairs — losing power signifies much more than just an inconvenience: It can be life-threatening.

We Need Publicly Owned Utilities

November 1, 2019 By Jill Richardson, Otherwords.org , ,
Right now, thousands of Californians are fleeing raging wildfires, while millions sit in the dark. And for-profit utilities may be to blame. Pacific Gas & Electric — a private, for-profit utility in the state — has admitted that its equipment likely caused 10 wildfires this year alone. To avoid further damage, the utility has been shutting off its customers’ power when weather conditions cause increased fire danger. Will this lower the risk of wildfires? Maybe. It will also leave blacked out hospitals choosing whether to refrigerate their vaccines or keep their medical records online.

SC Regulators Slap Down Duke Energy Rate Increase, Call Executives ‘Tone Deaf’

May 12, 2019 Haley Walters, The Greenville News Andrew Brown, Postandcourier.com , , , ,
State utility regulators on Wednesday reduced a proposed rate increase that would have affected 591,000 Duke Energy customers in the Upstate, and called executives of the energy company "tone deaf" for the proposal. Duke Energy requested last year to increase its Residential Basic Facilities Rate charge from $8.29 to $28, a spike that annually would've resulted in $236.52 more per customer in energy costs.The company later agreed to lower the charge to either $11.70 or $13.09.  The Public Service Commission is expected to announce a final decision on the rate increase in coming weeks.

TVA Votes To Close 2 Coal Plants, Despite Political Pressure From Trump And Kentucky GOP

February 16, 2019 James Bruggers, Insideclimatenews.org , , ,
Brushing aside pleas from coal-friendly politicians, Tennessee Valley Authority's board voted Thursday to retire a 49-year-old coal-fired power plant in Kentucky. President Donald Trump and the state's top elected officials had fought to keep it open, even though TVA concluded it would be too expensive to do so. In the past week, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had argued in media postings and at a rally that burning coal at the Paradise power plant was essential to their state's economy and to national security. Trump weighed in on Twitter, saying "coal is an important part of our electricity generation mix."

The Green New Deal Must Put Utilities Under Public Control

February 6, 2019 By Jackson Koeppel, Johanna Bozuwa and Liz Veazey, Inthesetimes.com , ,
Highland Park, Mich., is a small, majority-black community of three square miles, nestled in the center of Detroit, with some of the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the country. It’s suffered a series of indignities and setbacks over the years: a state emergency management takeover of the city and surrounding areas; a state takeover of the public water infrastructure; public school closures; and a collapse of tax revenue fueled by white flight, fossil-fuel-driven suburban development, and the rapid decline of the housing market and auto industries.

Public Takeover Of PG&E: A Radically Common-Sense Proposal

January 19, 2019 Johanna Bozuwa, Truthout.org , ,
California’s large investor-owned utility, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), announced it would be filing for bankruptcy by the end of the month after being faced with $30 billion in damages related to a series of fires over the past two years, including last fall’s deadly Camp Fire, which was allegedly sparked by the utility’s old, faulty transmission lines. That fire killed 86 people, destroyed 14,000 homes in the town of Paradise, and stands as the deadliest and most destructive fire in the state’s history. PG&E’s bankruptcy forces a critical choice for new California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state leaders. They could opt to bail out PG&E, or break up the gargantuan company into presumably more manageable pieces.

Can California Utilities Burn Down The State And Make The Public Pay For It?

September 18, 2018 Matt Stannard, Occupy.com , , ,
The fossil fuel industry knowingly alters the climate, exacerbating fire risks in the American West, including massive wildfires across California. Energy utilities (presently private corporations) play a more immediate role in sparking fires that, thanks to climate volatility, rage out of control. Then, these private corporations dodge strict liability regulations by getting the California legislature to allow them to charge customers for that liability. The lesson is clear: Oil companies heat and dry up the planet, power companies start fires on the dried up land, and we pay the bills. Once it is signed into law by California Gov. Jerry Brown – who is fresh off the successful Global Climate Action Summit, held last week in San Francisco – that is exactly what new state legislation will do.

Utilities Have A Problem: The Public Wants 100% Renewable Energy, And Quick

September 18, 2018 By David Roberts, Vox.com ,
Renewable energy is hot. It has incredible momentum, not only in terms of deployment and costs but in terms of public opinion and cultural cachet. To put it simply: Everyone loves renewable energy. It’s cleaner, it’s high-tech, it’s new jobs, it’s the future. And so more and more big energy customers are demanding the full meal deal: 100 percent renewable energy. The Sierra Club notes that so far in the US, more than 80 cities, five counties, and two states have committed to 100 percent renewables. Six cities have already hit the target. The group RE100 tracks 144 private companies across the globe that have committed to 100 percent renewables, including Google, Ikea, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Nike, GM, and, uh, Lego.

U.S. Utility Solar Contracts ‘Exploded’ In 2018 Despite Tariffs: Report

September 14, 2018 Nichola Groom, Reuters.com , ,
(Reuters) - Procurement of solar energy by U.S. utilities “exploded” in the first half of 2018, prompting a prominent research group to boost its five-year installation forecast on Thursday despite the Trump administration’s steep tariffs on imported panels. A record 8.5 gigawatts (GW) of utility solar projects were procured in the first six months of this year after President Donald Trump in January announced a 30 percent tariff on panels produced overseas, according to the report by Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and industry trade group the Solar Energy Industries Association. As a result, the research firm raised its utility-scale solar forecast for 2018 through 2023 by 1.9 GW. The forecast is still 8 percent lower than before the tariffs were announced. A gigawatt of solar energy can power about 164,000 homes.

After Latest Water Rate Hike, A Call To Pugh And Young For Help

July 3, 2018 By Fern Shen, Baltimorebrew.com , ,
A City Council bill to give poor residents a break on fast-rising water rates – promised a year ago by President Jack Young – is yet to be drafted As Baltimore water bills rose for the third year in a row, jumping nearly 10% yesterday, advocates for water customers again asked city officials to give poor residents some relief. Last summer they made the same plea for income-based billing legislation – and thought they were being heard. Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young promised then to work with advocates on a measure that would limit rates for poor customers. But after a couple of months, those talks petered out and no bill has been introduced. “Since January, there’s been no movement,” said Molly Amster, of Jews United for Justice. A news conference held under a blasting-hot July sun in front of City Hall today drew about 25 activists and water customers.
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