We can stop unfair man-made utility shut offs!
Over the weekend thousands experienced a temporary interruption to their power access. We appreciate utility workers who are working tirelessly to get our power back on.
At the George Wiley Center we work with thousands of low-income utility consumers who too often are forced to decide between paying for electricity or rent, medication or transportation.
Although we can’t always stop a storm from wreaking havoc on our lives, we can stop the man-made cycle of unfair utility terminations that are driven by bad public policy.
We are looking to our legislators to bring back a program that worked well to allow people to pay utility bills based on income rather than inhumanly get shut off. It is time to make sure that we stop preventable waves of mass utility terminations. State Legislators have the ability to bring back the Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) when they reconvene. We need our elected officials to bring back PIPP to help address the continued economic ramifications of the pandemic, including unemployment and low-wages. We can do better than continuing to allow corporatist policies to extract profits from those who already can’t afford bills.
Unlike an act of nature, most utility terminations happen because of unjust policies. In addition to our legislators at the state house, the RI PUC can also respect the emergency declaration by the Governor to extend the moratorium on shut offs for low-income and unemployed workers.
We thank utility workers who are right now working to reconnect our power. It is time to allow utility workers to focus on keeping everyone’s electricity on, to fix gas leaks, and help transition to clean energy, rather than forcing them to terminate their unemployed and low-income neighbors. We also need a just transition that respects workers, low-income communities and the environment.
Camilo Viveiros, is the executive director of the George Wiley Center a grassroots statewide community organizing group in Rhode Island.