We're including this article because it discusses the state of household energy bills and the use of pandemic moratoriums. The article discusses differences between when states ended the utility shutoff moratoriums, but also noted that nationally, household consumers did spend more during the early months of the pandemic: "One economist estimated that residential electricity use spiked 10% on average between April and July 2020, leading to households spending nearly $6 billion on extra usage. Another home energy monitoring company reported that April demand increased 22% from 2019."
There was also reference to a new study published by researchers at Duke University that showed how moratoriums had reduced COVID-19 infections and mortality rates.
Another really important point is the lack of data collected by utilities: we literally don't know what's going on with utility customers.
Rachel M. Cohen, "There Could Be an Energy Bill Debt Tsunami, Too", contributed by Alison Kenner, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 9 February 2021, accessed 25 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/there-could-be-energy-bill-debt-tsunami-too
Critical Commentary
We're including this article because it discusses the state of household energy bills and the use of pandemic moratoriums. The article discusses differences between when states ended the utility shutoff moratoriums, but also noted that nationally, household consumers did spend more during the early months of the pandemic: "One economist estimated that residential electricity use spiked 10% on average between April and July 2020, leading to households spending nearly $6 billion on extra usage. Another home energy monitoring company reported that April demand increased 22% from 2019."
There was also reference to a new study published by researchers at Duke University that showed how moratoriums had reduced COVID-19 infections and mortality rates.
Another really important point is the lack of data collected by utilities: we literally don't know what's going on with utility customers.