Washington D.C. – Today, activists from 17 states across the nation are launching a week of action to demand utility justice, holding for-profit utility companies accountable for hiking prices and fueling the climate crisis. Climate activists and ratepayers are holding 25 coordinated actions in a nation-wide escalation to address local utility issues and raise awareness around an industry that has monopoly power and is central to the climate crisis.
Led by People’s Action Institute and 350 Network Council, coordinated actions are part of a national trend to hold utility companies accountable for price hikes and greenwashing. According to consumer price index data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, average electricity prices for families in the United States have been raised nearly 31 percent since 2021. With longer and hotter summers, many people are at a breaking point.
“Instead of prioritizing clean and affordable energy, for-profit utility corporations hike rates on families, making it more expensive to heat and cool our homes while they are burning the planet,” said Sophia Cheng, Climate Justice Campaign Director at People’s Action Institute. “Across the country, people are speaking out because we are at a crossroads. We can keep paying utility corporations more each year to enrich CEOs profiting off dirty power, or we can demand a transition to affordable, clean energy with public oversight and authority.”
Years of organizing has yielded a massive federal investment in clean, reliable energy, but instead of seizing this opportunity, many utility corporations are doubling down on fossil gas and other harmful fuels while they hike rates across the country.
In Nevada, members of Progressive Leadership Alliance Nevada are protesting to stop NVEnergy from nearly tripling proposed service charges of $16.50 to $44.40. In Buffalo, New York, People United for Sustainable Housing are calling for corporate accountability and pushing back against National Fuel’s proposal to hike rates nearly 13.7%. Rights and Democracy New Hampshire and 350 New Hampshire are rallying in Manchester, NH to protest Eversource’s call for a 42% rate hike.
A recent study found that 27% of Americans struggled to pay utility bills or kept their homes at an unsafe temperature due to cost concerns. In addition to fighting back against rate hikes, activists across the country are organizing to stop expansions of dirty power and pressuring lawmakers to stop taking political contributions from for-profit utility corporations they are responsible for regulating.
“It is time to question not only where our energy is coming from, but how decisions are made by utility companies and who benefits from those decisions,” said Chantelle Rioux, 350NH, of 350 Network Council. “For too long, for-profit utility companies have used their deep pockets and monopoly power to hike up energy prices, while buying political influence and dragging their feet on the urgent change that is needed.”
Activists point out that there is not only momentum for change: there is money. The two-year-old Inflation Reduction Act unlocked $369 billion in federal investments to support the transition to 100% clean, renewable energy.
“It does not take an expert to know that for-profit utility companies cannot keep taking more money from families only to double down on fossil fuels that are making our planet too hot to live on,” said Rioux. “There is public will and unprecedented funding on the table to enact change and we are ready to fight for it.”
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People’s Action Institute is a national network of member-led, power-building organizations with more than a million members and tens of thousands of national volunteers. We are from every background, speak many languages, and live in small towns, cities and rural areas. We are all of us! Learn more about our work at peoplesactioninstitute.org.
The 350 Network Council is a coalition of the 16 largest independent 350 affiliates in the United States. Our members are community organizations that combine base building with strategic grassroots campaigns for climate justice.