By 2040, experts predict that 55% of global new car sales and 33% of the global vehicle fleet will be lectric. The transition to electric vehicles and electrified transportation is in progress, and prioritizing the needs of low-income consumers will be essential if the potential benefits of electric vehicles and electrified transportation are to be…
Transportation expenses are the second largest household expense for most families, even before the recent jump in gasoline prices. Rural families pay even more. Electric vehicles (EVs) can help consumers save money on transportation over the long term. At the same time, as underscored by the war and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, decreasing our reliance…
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This fact sheet provides a summary of federal COVID-19 relief programs that can help consumers with overdue water and sewer (wastewater) bills. It is a guide for advocates, utilities, and state and local officials who are seeking to help customers with past due and unaffordable water bills.
This issue brief provides an overview for advocates on the key federal COVID-19 relief programs that can help consumers pay for essential energy, water, and broadband service.
This issue brief provides an overview of issues to consider for advocates of programs aimed at increasing electrification for residential energy customers while protecting vulnerable low-income families. A carefully designed program can save low-income customers hundreds of dollars in energy bills while removing carbon from the atmosphere.
The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides life-saving assistance for low-income households with young children, frail elderly, and individuals with disabilities, by helping to pay electricity, gas, and oil bills. Payments are generally made to the utility or fuel vendor directly to help ensure that utility service is not terminated and that fuel tanks…
The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)1 helps low-income households pay for home heating bills in the winter and cooling bills in the summer. LIHEAP also helps eligible households resolve energy crises, for example, by fixing a broken furnace or making an emergency payment to avert an imminent disconnection during frigid winters or…
Voluntary and mandatory moratoriums on utility shut-offs adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have expired or will soon expire in states across the country. Utility regulators and other policymakers must act now to require more flexible and generous utility bill payment practices in order to avoid a tidal wave of terminations of essential utility…
This issue brief updates two reports the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) previously released in February and November 2021 analyzing arrearage data reported by Massachusetts electric and gas companies to the Department of Public Utilities in docket 20-58.2 While, overall, utility customers are in a somewhat improved position compared to the summer of 2021, over…
CO-AUTHORED WITH DERON LOVAAS AND LARRY LEVINE (NRDC) Utility services–electricity, heat, water, sanitation, telecommunications, and internet access–are essential to health, safety, and daily life. The vital need for uninterrupted utility service was evident before the coronavirus pandemic, but the COVID-19 public health emergency has reinforced the essential nature of utility service and the threats of…
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