Energy Justice Lab: Millions face utility shutoffs; medical-device users, young children at higher risk

Researchers from the Energy Justice Lab at the University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University presented new national research on utility disconnections and energy insecurity at a Public Utilities Commission energy equity meeting.

"Each year in the United States over 1 in 4 households experienced some form of energy insecurity," Sonia Carli, co-director of the Energy Justice Lab and Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania, said during the presentation. The lab estimated that about 2,000,000 households had electricity or natural gas shut off for nonpayment in 2023, noting that figure likely understates the total because relatively few utilities publicly report disconnection data.

Why it matters: disconnection removes access to refrigeration, phone charging and, in some homes, life-supporting devices. The presenters said those outcomes have immediate public-health consequences and can create a cycle of debt and repeated shutoffs.

Key findings and context: the Energy Justice Lab summarized multiple studies and survey work. The research described consistent predictors of disconnection: households of color (Black and Hispanic), households with children under age 5, households that rely on durable medical equipment (DMEs) and households in inefficient or poorly weatherized housing. The lab reported that an oxygen concentrator used at typical rates can raise an average household’s annual energy cost by more than $500, which the presenters said helps explain higher disconnection rates among DME users.

The lab also presented survey results on coping strategies used by low-income households: about 27% regularly accrue debt to pay energy bills, 26% use risky heat strategies (including actions such as using a gas oven for space heat), 18% balance payments across bills and 17% forego other necessities such as food or health care. Only 11% reported using government bill-assistance programs and 6% said they contacted their utility when struggling to pay.

Policy implications and proposals: Carli and co-presenter David Koski (Linton K. Caldwell Professor of Environmental Studies, Indiana University) discussed a range of measures to reduce disconnections, including stronger and clearer disconnection protections, broader medical-exemption definitions and targeted protections for vulnerable households (for example, homes with young children or elderly residents). They also offered early evidence that residential solar adoption was associated with lower likelihoods of disconnection in their matched-survey analysis.

Participant comment: a Hawaii resident who said they had been placed on oxygen described an increase in their household power use and the financial strain, underscoring presenters’ points about medical-device impacts.

Ending: The Energy Justice Lab urged better, more transparent data collection from utilities, clearer protections and both short- and long-term measures — from billing and reconnection reforms to preventative options such as subsidized residential solar — to reduce the health and economic harms of shutoffs.