By: Mario Mancini
When one has a family to feed, a car that needs to be filled with gas, at an ever-increasing cost, and an electric bill that must be paid, it is often difficult to decide which one is the priority. You buy groceries for your kids even if the prices seem to go up on a daily basis and you buy gas, even as you promise yourself you’ll only use the car to get to work so you can make money to pay for everything. The electric bill sits on the desk as you tell yourself you’ll find a way to take care of it next month.
As evictions have been put on hold and mortgage relief has been negotiated with the banks, what happens to people when the utility bills pile up and become impossible to pay? “At the start of the pandemic two years ago, as millions of unemployed Americans were unable to pay their bills, state-imposed moratoriums generally barred utilities from shutting off power. But most states, including New York, have lifted those restrictions in recent months. New Jersey’s moratorium, one of the last in effect, expired on March 15. In New York, advocates have pleaded with Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to use federal pandemic aid to bail out residents who cannot pay. Without a bailout, the state faces “the largest tidal wave of shut-offs in New York history,” said Richard Berkley, executive director of the Public Utility Law Project, an advocacy group”, writes Patrick McGeehan of The New York Times.
“When customers of Consolidated Edison in New York City and its northern suburbs complained about sharp increases in their bills this winter, the company said the main cause was a spike in the price of natural gas driven by winter demand. But skeptical elected officials demanded an investigation into Con Edison’s billing practices, leading the company to pledge to change billing practices to make sudden jumps in charges less likely”, reports The New York Times.
Many factors contribute to the rising cost of electricity. “The war in Ukraine has reduced the global supply of oil, driving the price of gasoline near all-time highs and adding volatility to the natural gas market. The shutdown last year of the Indian Point nuclear power plant, which once provided as much as 25 percent of the power consumed by New York City, has also contributed to surging utility bills because it has made the region more reliant on natural gas. Most homes in the region are heated with gas, and many of the biggest generators of electricity in the region are fueled with it”, according to The New York Times.
The Jewish Voice encourages anyone who is at risk of having their utilities turned off to contact local social services for assistance and aid. In New York City and many other municipalities, one call 311 to get help in finding resources. Also, Con Ed and other providers offer payment plans that, after a small down payment, sow you to pay off your bill over an extended period go time to avoid shut-off.
