TURN, The Redwood Community Action Agency, ACCES, Centro La Familia Advocacy Services, The Central Valley Urban Institute and CARA tell the Governor Utility Debt Relief is urgently needed.
Dear Governor Newsom,
Thank you for exercising bold leadership to protect California families during the coronavirus
public health crisis by promoting moratoria to prevent housing evictions and utility
disconnections. According to a recently published study, “Policies that limit evictions are found
to reduce COVID-19 infections by 3.8% and reduce deaths by 11%. Moratoria on utility
disconnections reduce COVID-19 infections by 4.4% and mortality rates by 7.4%.” (Report
attached). The shutoffs moratorium, adopted by the CPUC, has protected 800,000 California
households who are typically disconnected annually from their utility service. When these
shutoff protections expire on June 30, customers will be required to pay all uncollected amounts
that have accumulated over the previous 13 months. Hundreds of thousands of Californians will
face a wall of debt they cannot afford, causing additional financial strain and likely resulting in
the loss of utility service. We need your help to address this looming crisis.
On behalf of California households struggling to make ends meet during the coronavirus
economic crisis that has thrown millions out of work, our coalition of direct service providers,
grassroots activists and consumer advocates requests that you take the necessary steps to
allocate $1 billion of Federal COVID Emergency Funds to utility customer debt relief. We ask
that these funds be distributed by the existing network of Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP) providers which already distribute Federal energy assistance grants to lowincome
households in every county in California. We are part of national advocacy to increase
Federal funding to LIHEAP. (Letter attached). Following are brief testimonials describing the
need for customer utility debt assistance from each organization signing onto this letter.
TURN–The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group that represents 30 million
residential utility customers of PG&E, Edison, SoCal Gas and SDG&E, is concerned about drastic
increases in arrearages owed by utility customers since the beginning of the COVID crisis.
According to data provided by the four largest utility companies, the amount of unpaid bills
more than doubled from $500 million at the end of February 2020 to over $1.1 billion at the
end of December 2020, an increase of $650 million over pre–COVID levels in the first seven
months of energy usage during the pandemic. (Report attached) By June 30 when the shutoff
moratorium ends, we expect the increase in arrearages to top $1 billion, and that nearly 1 million
households will be at risk of utility disconnection, unless action is taken to reduce customer debt
and provide households with a reset.
ACCES, the association of 42 State Low-Income Energy/Weatherization Providers that
provides energy and weatherization services to 230,000 LIHEAP eligible households annually in
all 58 California counties, is concerned about the enormous bills that have piled up for families in
recent months.
“The ability to heat one’s home, water and food is essential to sustaining a household’s health and
safety. Keeping the lights on, our food/medicine refrigerated and our communications’
connections to the outside world are a basic threshold of safety and well-being for all of us during
these precarious, COVID times. Many of our clients face the loss of these basic needs including
water, because they cannot afford to pay off their large past due bills and they need help now.”
Redwood Community Action Agency, a non-profit community action agency that provided
energy, human services and other programs to 16,000 low-income rural households of
Humboldt and Modoc counties in 2020 believes that overwhelming utility debt threatens the
ability of people to remain housed.
“The loss of essential utility services places our clients’ health and safety at risk as well as their
ability to sustain housing. We have seen a huge increase in the number of clients requesting
help with their past due energy bill and they have no idea how they are going to pay it off. In
most cases, their incomes are not sufficient to pay off the arrearage in a timely manner which
leaves them hopeless and afraid.”
Centro La Familia Advocacy Services, a champion to the underserved population in rural and
urban Fresno County for five decades, has the mission of providing services that empower and
support families and individuals in our culturally diverse community.
“Our clients need help to survive economically, as Fresno County has some of the highest
poverty rates in the state, as well as high energy use that accompanies the extreme heat and cold
experienced in this region, rising rent costs, along with the economic impact and additional
costs of sheltering at home during the pandemic. Households are struggling to survive, even
more during these difficult times, and often this means prioritizing either feeding the family or
paying bills.”
The Central Valley Urban Institute is a policy and advocacy organization representing the
voices of hundreds of thousands of low income residents, and the voice of disadvantaged
communities throughout the Central Valley.
“The Central Valley is facing an extraordinary crisis in utility delinquency. Coronavirus is harming
Black and Brown communities at jarring rates due to longstanding disparities in healthcare and
our economy. History, however has taught us that the road to justice is long and arduous, and it
is clear that in order to meet the scale and scope of this crisis, swift action must be taken.”
California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA) is California’s largest grassroots advocacy
organization representing over 1 million older adults through our 300+ affiliated organizations.
CARA works on issues to improvethe quality of life for older adults, people with disabilities,
caregivers, and low income communities through education, organization, and advocacy.
“Many of our members are low income and struggle to pay for their housing, utilities, food, and
medical expenses including prescription drugs. During the pandemic, older adults have had to
choose what to pay for yet many are unaware that there are programs that could assist them. We
must expand the resources available to low income and isolated older adults, and improve
outreach and education efforts to make them aware of what might be available to them.”
TURN, ACCES, Redwood Community Action, Centro La Familia, Central Valley Urban Institute,
and CARA call upon you to take bold action to protect utility ratepayers by allocating $1 billion of
Federal COVID Emergency Funds to utility customer debt relief. California cannot afford
skyrocketing utility debt and increasing numbers of families at risk of being deprived of lighting,
heating and cooling needed for health and safety, and even evicted from their homes when the
disconnections moratorium ends on June 30. Your leadership is needed to implement a solution
that promotes equity, fairness, and sustainability.
Thank you for your consideration,
Mark W. Toney, Ph.D. • Executive Director
TURN – The Utility Reform Network
Arleen Novotney • Executive Director
ACCES
Val Martinez • Executive Director
Redwood Community Action Agency
Margarita Rocha • Executive Director
Centro La Familia Advocacy Services
Eric Payne
Eric Payne • Executive Director
The Central Valley Urban Institute
Jodi Reid
Jodi Reid • Executive Director
California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA)