Electrical facilities throughout the United States closed energy to an increasing number of families, according to a recent report that also found that most of the closure had occurred during a record summer last year, which is a reminder of this. Climate Fuel is more intense and frequent and heat waves are prolonged.
Closing can be fatal, especially during severe freezing and strong heat. Although health problems are the most anxious risk, there are other threats of daily life such as loss of access to phone, the Internet, medical equipment and food storage. The basic physical comfort can be impossible.
the a report Through the non -profit center of biological diversity, it revealed that six facilities owned by investors have separated from customers between January and September 2024 more than 662,000 times, as more than 20 percent of the same period jump in 2023. These companies included Power Georgia, DTE Energy, Duke Energy, Aeren Corporation and Pacific Gas & Electric and Arizona Arizona.
Cella Jodson Bell, the leader of the report, said all the closures and the damage it caused can be avoided. The states and local governments have the Authority of Customer Protection through the age of policies such as a comprehensive closure ban during severe heat and adaptation to the high rate of facilities. While most states are already prohibiting the closure during cold weather, more and more countries began to ban it during heat waves. He said: “It will be up to cities, municipalities and countries to treat continuous energy injustice and hold these facilities companies accountable.”
It is difficult to know the true range and the nature of the closure because only A mixture of data It is located at the country level. Twenty -two states of the facilities do not require the reporting at all, and among those that do, only 20 states and DC, updated data. Reports authors analyzed the six energy companies because they provide current separation data and serve more than 200 million customers, extending most of the United States regions from California to Carolinas.
In Georgia, the largest company Georgia Power, which was not paid more than 180,000 times from January to September 2024 – increased more than 20 percent over the same period in 2023. Duke Energy increased in North and South Carolina by about 20 percent last year. DTE Energy has disassembled clients more than 150,000 times, closed AENEN in Illinois and Missouri Power by more than 120,000 times, with increased closure rates in the past few years.
While Pacific Gas & Electric in California and the Phenix Public Service, the Phenix has been cut off, the energy has been cut into fewer customers of other facilities, the report still finds steady growth in the closure since 2022.
The report found that persistent inflation, high prices, and climate change all contributed to the high closure. Godson Bell said that the main issue is the “old and broken” business model, which is punishable by low -income customers by effectively raising prices, then cutting energy when families cannot pay.
With the closure increased, the six -year -old facilities also recorded $ 10 billion between January and 2024, an increase of more than 20 percent over the same period in 2023. Godson Bell said: “Clients lose access to a basic service they need to survive while shareholders line up with luxury returns.”
In addition to using more electricity to deal with maximum temperatures, customers also pay the costs of escalating and hardening network repair after disasters such as forest fires or hurricanes. However, the report documents the facilities efforts that would poor climate costs: almost all the facilities mentioned in the report have worked to expand the gas infrastructure and fossil fuel supply, and have pressed the weakening of solar policies on the surface and other climate policies.
Representatives of the Aameen, Arizona Public Service, DTE Energy and PG & E Grist told the separation is the last resort, and that the facilities provide a set of energy assistance and flexible payment plans. “We realize that high costs, including energy bills, can be a challenge to customers,” said PG & E Mike Gazda. Duke Energy and Georgia Power did not respond to the comment.
For most facilities in the report, the closure reached its peak in the summer.
While 42 states already prohibit the closure during cold weather, 23 now has passed a heat -based closure, including Washington State in 2023 and Virginia in 2024. Last year, Illinois strengthened an existing ban By reducing the previous threshold of 95 degrees Fahrenheit to 90. This change appears to have already had a measurable effect: according to the report of the Biodiversity Center, the summer closure in Illinois was 13 percent less in 2024 than 2023.
But in Michigan and California, who both have the closing of severe heat temperatures, separation from DTE Energy and PG & E still reaches its climax during the summer. Godson Bell said that the temperature -based closure ban in those states is sufficient to protect customers because they do not need tools to automatically restore energy to families that are separated before the heat event. This means that even if the family is turned off immediately before the prohibition becomes valid, if they cannot pay in a timely manner, “they will have to withstand harsh conditions without access to electricity.”
On the other hand, Arizona’s public service fell in summer in the closures using the date -based stop -out stopping stop from June 1, October 15. Politics It was presented by state organizers After the public service in Arizona cut power into a 72 -year -old woman, who owes $ 51 on her electricity bill, which led to her death in 2018. But even history -based protection may not be sufficient because the intense heat occurs increasingly on summer days outside the summer months.
He said that countries instead should use both the temperature and date restrictions to expand the period of time in which customers are protected, and a completely prohibited closure for some customers such as those who suffer from medical conditions. Sania Carley, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who is studying the interruption of benefit, said. “When it comes to separation, I think countries need to adopt the largest possible number of protection.”
