October 2020 Media Brief

The Energy in COVID-19 monthly research briefs collect the latest news read by our working group members. Each month, a different working group member takes the lead in writing up summaries and the brief’s framing, always in conversation with the full working group. The overall aim of the briefs is to showcase how disasters instigate policy changes, particularly around economic crises.

Summary

This month's media brief is divided into three sections. The first section, energy use during COVID-19, includes articles that discuss how COVID-19 has changes the way energy use, typically quantified as utilities such as electricity, has changed in commercial and residential settings. The first article goes over each of the 50 states and compares both pre and post pandemic energy use for commercial and residential settings. The second article suggests ways in which consumers can save money on utility bills as many of them are now required to use more electricity due to the stay at home orders. The next  and largest section, inequality of access during COVID-19, contains article that discuss how COVID-19 has exacerbated inequalities to utility access. The first article discusses how the state of Pennsylvania still has $1.3 billion dollars of CARES act money that is currently not being spent as well as a proposal on how to spend it. The next article discusses how unpaid utility bills are soaring as the moratorium is set to come to an end next month with the article following it discussing the moratorium end in more detail. The next article discusses how Philadelphia is trying to roll back on some regulations to make solar panel installation easier. The final article of this section discusses how poor internet in rural Pennsylvania is a deterrent to people moving there. The last section is titled access to utilities during COVID-19, with the articles here focusing on how access to utilities has been expanded in some ways or how it has changed. The first article discusses what clean energy companies are doing to combat racism and where they should move going forward. The next article discusses how internet use has been expanded during the pandemic and calls for these internet programs to last far beyond the pandemic. The next article discusses how utility shutoffs should be a motivator for grassroots activism that seeks energy justice and wider availability. The final article is a guide for tenants and what tools they have to fight evictions during the pandemic.