In a few days both federal relief payments and moratoriums on utility shutoffs end. Right now is the hottest two months of the year.
People need electricity to stay healthy. With a sudden loss of air conditioning, heat can kill – especially infants and seniors, and those with chronic medical conditions.
COVID-19 has been devastating to the economy. In April, the U.S. had the biggest increase in unemployment since the Depression. The COVID recession has been so severe, that many people aren’t able to pay their electric bills. Many states and some utilities issued a moratorium on utility disconnections that runs through the end of July. Now we are at the end of July, and as noted in a story at NPR News, “a tidal wave of power shutoffs looms.”
Millions of people in the Southeast have filed new unemployment claims since the coronavirus shutdowns started in March. Each unemployed person is unique, with people who care about them, and each has unique needs. The loss of income also affects others in the household. Even worse, it could severely affect their health, if their electricity is cut off.
We are in the hottest part of the summer, with high temperatures and humidity. August is one of the hottest months of the year, and moratoriums on utility disconnections are ending.
Some people have illnesses that require electric medical equipment, or need a refrigerator to store medicine such as insulin for diabetes. Examples of electrical medical equipment include nebulizer machines for people with asthma, home dialysis machines, or heart monitors that need to be used every day. The electric medical devices are keeping people alive.
And, heat alone can cause severe medical problems. Heat is a silent killer. During heatwaves, people not only experience heat illness, but also have more troubles with heart or lung conditions they already have. Every heatwave sends thousands of people to hospitals and emergency departments, and causes many deaths besides those that are strictly from heat illness. But right now, many hospitals across the southeast are already full or almost full because of COVID-19. Adding more people who are sick enough to be in a hospital is a recipe for trouble. Newborns and people who have heart disease, lung disease, or are elderly are most at risk of dying when the temperature is too high.
If people are disconnected by the electric company during the hottest month of the year, people won’t be able to use air conditioning or their electrical medical equipment. It will be like they are suddenly thrust into a heatwave, with the house temperature rising 15-20 degrees. The sudden rise in temperature can trigger heart attacks or asthma attacks, and can send them to the ER or hospital. Not being able to use electric medical equipment could kill them.
Without air conditioning, people will have to open their windows. If they live in a city that has air pollution problems, that means they will be breathe more air pollution. More air pollution could also trigger asthma attacks or heart problems or strokes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating. It has sickened hundreds of thousands and killed thousands of people in the Southeast, and has caused untold economic hardship. If utilities resume cutoffs in August, many thousands more could become sick or die.
Electricity has become a basic human right, and governors should extend the moratoriums on electric cutoffs.
Read or listen to the NPR story/article about power shutoffs here.
