A coalition of consumer, faith and labor groups called upon President Biden Wednesday to take executive action to force the Tennessee Valley Authority to order a suspension of utility cutoffs by the local power companies regulated by TVA.
Nearly two dozen groups led by the Friends of the Earth and Appalachian Voices said electricity users hurt by the ongoing pandemic shouldn't lose their power because they can't afford to pay their monthly light bills.
"With the race to get everyone vaccinated ahead of rising COVID variants, TVA has an ethical obligation to take action," said Bri Knisley, Tennessee campaign coordinator for Appalachian Voices. "TVA should implement an immediate, utility disconnection moratorium that will reduce infection rates and save lives."
Local power companies like Chattanooga's EPB suspended utility cutoffs for nonpayments last year when the pandemic first hit the economy, but most TVA distributors resumed cutting off customers for unpaid electricity bills by late 2020 while working with their customers to arrange payment on delinquent bills.
Groups backing an extended moratorium on such utility cutoffs delivered petitions to the White House with more than 21,500 signatures of persons urging Biden to intervene with an executive order for TVA to order a suspension on any more power cutoffs.
"Although thousands of families have lost power during the pandemic, Congress neglected to include a moratorium on utility shutoffs in its latest relief bill," said Michelle Chan, vice president of programs at Friends of the Earth.
Chan cited a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research that estimated that a nationwide moratorium on utility disconnections could have helped prevent as many as 14.8% of COVID-19 deaths by improving hygiene and limiting crowded co-housing that occurred when utilities were cut off for non-payment and families moved in with others and practiced less social distancing.
Phone calls for utility bill assistance to Tennessee's 211 hotline from March 2020 through February 2021 were up 139% when compared to the same 12-month period from the previous year, Chan said.
But in response to the pandemic, record levels of assistance have been provided in the past year to financially troubled households by TVA, local power companies, community relief agencies along with the federal Low-Income Heating Assistance Program. TVA offered its local power companies a $200 million pandemic relief program last August that was equal to 2.5% of its wholesale power rates and TVA has helped fund a variety of community assistance programs for those struggling to pay their power bills due to the economic hardships created by the pandemic.
"During the COVID-19 pandemic to date, more than $3.8 million in TVA funds, matched by an additional $3.9 million in contributions from local power companies and other local donors, has been distributed through our Community Care Fund to various community groups to assist with utility bills and other urgent needs," TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said."In addition, TVA has provided an additional $12 million through the Back to Business credit program to allow companies to more quickly resume operations and get employees back to work."
TVA is both the wholesale power provider and the regulator for the 153 municipalities and power coops that deliver electricity to nearly 10 million people in its 7-state region.
"As public power providers, a key component is our belief in local control – allowing local power company leaders to make the best decisions based on the unique needs of their community," Hopson said. "This extends to policies regarding power disconnects, which are difficult, but sometimes necessary decisions to prevent shifting the costs of providing reliable power service to other ratepayers."
In Chattanooga, EPB has actually cut the number of its power disconnections by more than half in the past 12 months compared with the previous year through a variety of assistance and repayment programs, EPB spokesman J.Ed. Marston said. The Chattanooga utility suspended any power cutoffs from March through October last year - the longest such cutoff moratorium in EPB's 85-year history - and EPB and TVA have helped fund the United Way Restore Hope fund to provide rent, utility, and other assistance for people who have been impacted by COVID.
EPB and TVA increased their support for the assistance fund to $160,000 each, matched with an additional $20,000 in donation from EPB employees, to help support a total of $788,905.99 paid by United Way for those in need toward rent, utility and other needs. EPB also worked with the city, county and private foundations to launch HCS EdConnect last July to provide internet services at no charge to all students on free and reduced-lunch programs in Hamilton County schools.
Marston said EPB resumed utility cutoffs last October after a 6-month moratorium when new Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding became available for another year.
"Because by law the bills continue to accrue for the electricity or fiber services that are used by our customers, it was really important for us to work people to access available federal and other utility assistance funds while those funds were available to help our customers catch up on their bills and to speed our economic recovery," Marston said. "It doesn't do anybody any good if after all of this is over people have 12 months of not just utility bills but everything else that they still have to find a way to pay."
But Knisely said regulators in other states, including Virginia, have ordered local utilities not to cut off customers for not paying their utility bills during the pandemic even as utility bills continue to mount.
TVA is an independent federal agency governed by a 9-member board of directors that sets its own policy and can regulate what local power companies charge on their bills. The U.S. president has no direct ability to dictate TVA policy. But as President Trump demonstrated last summer when he fired two TVA directors for supporting the outsourcing of information technology jobs, the White House can influence TVA's board and or issue some executive orders that apply to all federal agencies, including TVA.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.