Adrienne Nice woke up early on the morning of July 25 to news she’d been dreading. The power company, Xcel Energy Inc., had shut off the electricity to the small Minneapolis apartment she shares with her teenage son, just as a heat wave was bearing down on the city.
Nice had been struggling financially ever since the pandemic hit, racking up more than $3,000 in past-due utility bills. The warnings she’d gotten on her monthly statement—“FINAL NOTICE” scrawled in big, bold letters—had prepared her to some degree, but it was still jarring to find the fridge dark and the air conditioner silent. With temperatures set to reach 95F (35C) in the coming days, she needed the power back on, and fast.
The Nice household is one of some 20 million across the country—about 1 in 6 American homes—that have fallen behind on their utility bills. It is, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (Neada), the worst crisis the group has ever documented. Underpinning those numbers is a blistering surge in electricity prices, propelled by the soaring cost of natural gas.
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Corruption on steroids!!!
The rnc and gop establishment are complicit in the conspiracy to destroy America!!!!! There are a very few patriotic republicans but they are too few and are kept out of any important positions by the establishment TRAITORS who are only interested in personal wealth and power!!!!!!!!!!
Wait one moment - I know in our area if one is low income, one can apply to have your bills reduced or, depending on your situation, even eliminated. Does Minneapolis have such a program? If it does, why didn't she apply? If she is over income, why wasn't she able to pay her utility bills or at least pay a partial amount each month? Something seems missing from the story.
It could be because of Covid shutdowns. A lot of small businesses closed never to reopen again
Exactly Dee
Unemployment insurance has run out and the extra pandemic relief of 600/wk paid destroyed any incentive to work at many small businesses. Paying people not to work resulted in many low-paying jobs disappearing along with those businesses. The true inflation rate is in the upper double-digit and triple-digit range forcing many low waged workers to go on public assistance... or to choose between fuel to go to work or food. It's going to get worse, as long as we have Biden and the DNC ruling the show.