If yes to Q20, what did you do to address these disruptions? (Q20B)

This chart reflects responses to Question #20B from the Winter 2020 survey, which asked, “If yes to Q20, what did you do to address these disruptions?” This was an open ended question, and there were 30 responses. Responses to this question were thematically coded, with all responses fitting into one or more of the following themes: 

• Contacted utility company

• Took adaptive measures

• Called technician/maintenance 

• Waited it out

• Contacted Landlord

• Paid off debt 

• Other

The most common theme was “contacted utility company”, with 14 responses falling into this category, followed by “took adaptive measures”, with 13 responses falling into this category. The adaptive measures described included using candles and flashlights for electricity outages, using outdoor grills when an individual's stove wouldn’t work, and using space heaters. Seven responses were categorized as “waited it out”, three responses were categorized as “called technician/maintenance”, two responses were categorized as “contacted landlord”, and two responses were categorized as “paid off debt”. Three responses were categorized as “other”, with responses discussing being connected to the internet through the Internet Essentials Package from Comcast at the start of the pandemic, posting to a neighborhood social media page for energy disruptions, and being notified before an energy outage so that individuals were able to plan accordingly. It’s important to note that some responses contained multiple themes. 

The data was produced by the Shifting Energy Demands in COVID-19 Survey - Overview, which was administered to 83 people over a fourteen week period between December 2020 and March 2021. Visit the Winter 2020 Shifting Energy Demands in COVID-19 - Survey Results page to view more data from our survey. The project is approved by Drexel’s IRB.