hundreds of thousands of families have lived that reality since COVID began, and millions are at risk of losing access to these basic human rights as the economic crisis continues. We applaud Senator Merkley and other Senate champions for pushing for a nationwide protection against utility shutoffs. We urge Congress and President Biden to finally enact these protections and make long-term infrastructure investments to ensure no family needlessly suffers from our broken utility systems in the future,” said Jean Su, Energy Justice Director, Center for Biological Diversity. “Broadband is an essential service, especially during a pandemic when getting online can mean the difference between keeping up with remote learning and falling behind, between signing up for a vaccination appointment and missing out, between staying informed in an emergency and being left in the dark. No one should lose internet during a crisis. It’s time for the federal government to commit to prioritizing people’s needs over provider’s profits and prohibit these shutoffs across the board,” said Dana Floberg, Policy Manager, Free Press Action. “Right now, 57 percent of the country is not protected from having their water shut off. This has deadly consequences: A recent study showed that nearly 15% of COVID deaths would have been prevented with a utility shutoff moratorium in place. Instead of stopping water shutoffs, the previous administration actually recommended that people without access to clean water could use contaminated water or hand sanitizer instead. Congress and President Biden must respond with more compassion by prohibiting utility shutoffs now. We applaud Senator Merkley and the other Senate leaders for showing the leadership we need,” said Rianna Eckel, Senior Organizer, National Organizing Team, Food & Water Watch. “We are one year into a deadly pandemic, with families struggling to pay for essential services like energy, water and broadband. Right now, residential customers and small business owners are estimated to owe between 35 and 40 billion in utility debt. Congress needs to immediately cancel all utility debt and implement a national moratorium on utility shutoffs. We are so grateful for Senator Merkley and our other champions enduring work on this issue,” said Johanna Bozuwa, Climate & Energy Program Co-Manager, The Democracy Collaborative. “Millions of low income Americans have fallen behind on their energy bills due to COVID-related job losses and with moratoriums expiring in 22 states this month, they could soon be facing disconnection. Some families already struggling to pay their bills are now as much as $3,000 behind and the total consumer debt already exceeds $30 billion. We need Congress to step in with increased funding of at least $10 billion to ensure we avert this looming crisis,”
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The Business Review | March 2021
March 2021 | The Business Review
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