Please leave this field empty
Donate Monthly Make a Gift Renew Your Membership Ways to Give
Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch
  • About
  • Problems
  • Campaigns
  • Impacts
  • Research
  • Contact
Donate Monthly Make a Gift Renew Your Membership Ways to Give
  • facebook
  • twitter
Please leave this field empty
Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch
$
Menu
  • About
  • News
  • Research Library
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donate
Search
Please leave this field empty
  • facebook
  • twitter

New Senate Data Underscores Urgent Need for Federal Moratorium on Utility Shut-Offs



Expiring state-level bans leave millions at risk of losing vital services as COVID-19, unemployment rates climb

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • google-plus
  • envelope

We all need safe food and clean water.

Donate
Water-For-All ordinance would protect Chicago families from skyrocketing water bills.
07.23.20

WASHINGTON--Today, Senator Tom Carper, Democratic ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, released a report that revealed only 10 U.S. States and Washington, D.C., have statewide moratoriums on water, power and gas utility shut-offs that protect all or the vast majority of residential ratepayers in effect right now. The report provides a comprehensive state-by-state analysis of state protections against water, power and gas utility disconnections. The Center for Biological Diversity also released a report showing that expiring state-level electricity shut-off moratoria could leave as few as five states with binding protections by September. This patchwork of protections leaves an increasing number of people at risk of losing access to vital utilities.

More than 830 organizations, 113 members of Congress, and hundreds of thousands of people have called for a nationwide moratorium on utility shut-offs for water, electricity, and broadband services. The HEROES Act, passed by the House of Representatives in May, includes a nationwide moratorium on shut-offs. The Senate is set to debate the new COVID-19 response bill in the next three weeks and advocates are calling for it to include these same provisions.

According to Food & Water Action’s live tracker, 10 statewide moratoriums on water shutoffs and dozens of local moratoriums have already expired, leaving millions of people vulnerable to losing basic water services.  

“Water shutoffs are resuming across the country, particularly in areas being hit hardest by the pandemic,” said Mary Grant, the Public Water for All Campaign Director at Food & Water Action. “We thank Senator Carper for his work to address this crisis. Hundreds of people are losing basic water service every single day in cities including Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida. With COVID-19 cases spiking, we must ensure that every person has access to the services that they need to wash their hands and protect themselves, their families and their communities. This is an emergency that demands nothing short of federal action.” 

The coronavirus crisis has triggered unemployment levels unprecedented in modern American history, disproportionately hurting low-wealth households as well as Black, Latinx and other communities of color. These communities are facing increasingly unaffordable rates for water, electricity, and broadband services. 

In addition to impending expirations on state-wide moratoria, people are also contending with internet service providers that are reportedly shutting off service even after taking a voluntary FCC pledge not to. An investigation revealed that nearly 500 complaintshave been filed with the FCC over internet shut-offs in apparent violation of the pledge. And now that the FCC has sunset its pledge, many providers are walking back these already-shaky promises.

“It is morally unacceptable to cut off people’s essential services like water, energy, and broadband amidst the ongoing pandemic— particularly as climate-induced heat waves hit across the country. People’s lives are more important than meeting profit margins. We need a comprehensive national moratorium passed in Congress,” said Johanna Bozuwa of The Democracy Collaborative.

“If the Senate doesn’t act, millions of families face the risk of losing power and water during an unprecedented public health and economic crisis,” said Greer Ryan, energy policy analyst at the Center for Biological Diversity’s energy justice program. “A national moratorium on utility shut-offs has to be a nonnegotiable part of the new coronavirus rescue package. Lawmakers must help unemployed people keep their lights on and their water flowing. And we need to invest in long-term solutions like community solar to create new jobs and build climate and economic resilience.”

“As coronavirus cases are once again on the rise and many states are reinstating strict social distancing measures, the need for universal broadband is more plain than ever,” said Dana Floberg, policy manager at Free Press Action. “But too many people, particularly low-income families and communities of color, are kept offline by high broadband prices that are even less affordable during this pandemic and economic disruption. New research and painful stories show that too many people are at risk of losing vital internet connectivity due to broadband shut-offs. We need a national moratorium to ensure that no one is forced into digital darkness.”

“These updated numbers underscore what people across the U.S. have known for months: We need a national moratorium on utility shut-offs,” said Alissa Weinman, associate campaign director at Corporate Accountability. “COVID-19 has exacerbated inequities in water access at a time when that access is more important than ever. Shamefully, the U.S. government has not only failed to recognize the human right to water internationally, but has also failed to adequately invest in U.S. water infrastructure for decades. Right now, Congress can bring us closer to realizing water justice by stopping utility shut-offs, investing in public water infrastructure, and prioritizing people, not corporations.”

Contact: Seth Gladstone - sgladstone[at]fwwatch[dot]org, 917.363.3315

 

 

 

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

Monsanto's Roundup is a "probable human carcinogen." We need to ban it!

Get the latest on your food and water with news, research and urgent actions.

Please leave this field empty

Latest News

  • Trump’s Out, Biden’s In! Now The Fight Of Our Lives On Climate Begins.

    Trump’s Out, Biden’s In! Now The Fight Of Our Lives On Climate Begins.

  • Biden’s 100-Day Must-Do List for a Cleaner, Healthier Country

    Biden’s 100-Day Must-Do List for a Cleaner, Healthier Country

  • Fracking, Federal Lands, And Follow-Through: Will President Biden Do What He Promised?

    Fracking, Federal Lands, And Follow-Through: Will President Biden Do What He Promised?

See More News & Opinions

For Media: See our latest press releases and statements

Food & Water Insights

Looking for more insights and our latest research?

Visit our policy & research library
  • Renewable Natural Gas: Same Ol' Climate-Polluting Methane, Cleaner-Sounding Name

  • The Case to Ban Fracking on Federal Lands

  • Dangerously Deep: Fracking’s Threat to Human Health

Fracking activist with stickersFracking activist in hatLegal team loves family farmsFood & Water Watch organizer protecting your food

Work locally, make a difference.

Get active in your community.

Food & Water Impact

  • Victories
  • Stories
  • Facts
  • Trump, Here's a Better Use for $25 Billion

  • Here's How We're Going to Build the Clean Energy Revolution

  • How a California Activist Learned to Think Locally

Keep drinking water safe and affordable for everyone.

Take Action
food & water watch logo
en Español

Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold & uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people’s health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.

Food & Water Watch is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Food & Water Action is a 501(c)4 organization.

Food & Water Watch Headquarters

1616 P Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20036

Main: 202.683.2500

Contact your regional office.

Work with us: See all job openings

  • Problems
    • Broken Democracy
    • Climate Change & Environment
    • Corporate Control of Food
    • Corporate Control of Water
    • Factory Farming & Food Safety
    • Fracking
    • GMOs
    • Global Trade
    • Pollution Trading
  • Solutions
    • Advocate Fair Policies
    • Legal Action
    • Organizing for Change
    • Research & Policy Analysis
  • Our Impact
    • Facts
    • Stories
    • Victories
  • Take Action
    • Get Active Where You Live
    • Organizing Tools
    • Find an Event
    • Volunteer with Us
    • Live Healthy
    • Donate
  • Give
    • Give Now
    • Give Monthly
    • Give a Gift Membership
    • Membership Options
    • Fundraise
    • Workplace Giving
    • Planned Giving
    • Other Ways to Give
  • About
  • News
  • Research Library
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donate
Learn more about Food & Water Action www.foodandwateraction.org.
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • 2021 © Food & Water Watch
  • www.foodandwaterwatch.org
  • Terms of Service
  • Data Usage Policy