IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v159y2021ics0301421521005280.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy insecurity and the urgent need for utility disconnection protections

Author

Listed:
  • Baker, Shalanda H.
  • Carley, Sanya
  • Konisky, David M.

Abstract

Millions of Americans are unable to pay their energy bills and face the risk of being disconnected from their energy providers. This problem has grown significantly worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, with low-income households, households of color, and households with vulnerable populations particularly hard-hit by these conditions. In the early months of the pandemic, many states imposed temporary protections on utility disconnection but, as time has evolved, nearly all of these protections have lapsed. An increasing lack of protection has serious implications for vulnerable populations. Here, we present the extent of the energy insecurity problem in the United States, discuss the design and evolution of state disconnection protections, and offer policy recommendations for addressing this imminent challenge.

Suggested Citation

  • Baker, Shalanda H. & Carley, Sanya & Konisky, David M., 2021. "Energy insecurity and the urgent need for utility disconnection protections," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:159:y:2021:i:c:s0301421521005280
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112663
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421521005280
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112663?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Villalobos, Carlos & Chávez, Carlos & Uribe, Adolfo, 2021. "Energy poverty measures and the identification of the energy poor: A comparison between the utilitarian and capability-based approaches in Chile," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2015. "Fuel poverty, affordability, and energy justice in England: Policy insights from the Warm Front Program," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P1), pages 361-371.
    3. Liddell, Christine & Morris, Chris, 2010. "Fuel poverty and human health: A review of recent evidence," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 2987-2997, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Indre Siksnelyte-Butkiene, 2022. "Combating Energy Poverty in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Global Economic Uncertainty," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    2. Keskar, Aditya & Galik, Christopher & Johnson, Jeremiah X., 2023. "Planning for winter peaking power systems in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mara Hammerle & Paul J. Burke, 2022. "Solar PV and energy poverty in Australia's residential sector," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(4), pages 822-841, October.
    2. Calver, Philippa & Simcock, Neil, 2021. "Demand response and energy justice: A critical overview of ethical risks and opportunities within digital, decentralised, and decarbonised futures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    3. Banerjee, Rajabrata & Mishra, Vinod & Maruta, Admasu Asfaw, 2021. "Energy poverty, health and education outcomes: Evidence from the developing world," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Yiming Xiao & Han Wu & Guohua Wang & Hong Mei, 2021. "Mapping the Worldwide Trends on Energy Poverty Research: A Bibliometric Analysis (1999–2019)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-22, February.
    5. Okorie, David Iheke & Lin, Boqiang, 2022. "Association of energy poverty and catastrophic health expenditure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    6. Chiara Grazini, 2023. "La poverta' energetica come privazione delle capacita' (Energy poverty as capabilities deprivation)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 76(301), pages 3-25.
    7. Yiming Xiao & Han Wu & Guohua Wang & Shangrui Wang, 2021. "The Relationship between Energy Poverty and Individual Development: Exploring the Serial Mediating Effects of Learning Behavior and Health Condition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-14, August.
    8. Sandrine Meyer & Laurence Holzemer & Thiago Nyssens Moraes Da Silva & Kevin Maréchal, 2016. "Things are not always what it is measured: On the importance of adequately assessing energy poverty," Working Papers CEB 16-025, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    9. Belaïd, Fateh, 2018. "Exposure and risk to fuel poverty in France: Examining the extent of the fuel precariousness and its salient determinants," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 189-200.
    10. Recep Ulucak & Ramazan Sari & Seyfettin Erdogan & Rui Alexandre Castanho, 2021. "Bibliometric Literature Analysis of a Multi-Dimensional Sustainable Development Issue: Energy Poverty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-21, August.
    11. Ioanna Kyprianou & Despina Serghides & Harriet Thomson & Salvatore Carlucci, 2023. "Learning from the Past: The Impacts of Economic Crises on Energy Poverty Mortality and Rural Vulnerability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-13, July.
    12. Xu, Xiaojing & Chen, Chien-fei, 2019. "Energy efficiency and energy justice for U.S. low-income households: An analysis of multifaceted challenges and potential," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 763-774.
    13. Burlinson, Andrew & Giulietti, Monica & Law, Cherry & Liu, Hui-Hsuan, 2021. "Fuel poverty and financial distress," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    14. Becchio, Cristina & Bottero, Marta Carla & Corgnati, Stefano Paolo & Dell’Anna, Federico, 2018. "Decision making for sustainable urban energy planning: an integrated evaluation framework of alternative solutions for a NZED (Net Zero-Energy District) in Turin," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 803-817.
    15. Caitlin Robinson & Stefan Bouzarovski & Sarah Lindley, 2018. "Underrepresenting neighbourhood vulnerabilities? The measurement of fuel poverty in England," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(5), pages 1109-1127, August.
    16. Jun Zhang & Yuang He & Jing Zhang, 2022. "Energy Poverty and Depression in Rural China: Evidence from the Quantile Regression Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-21, January.
    17. Itziar Modrego-Monforte & Mikel Barrena-Herrán & Olatz Grijalba, 2023. "A Multi-Criteria Analysis GIS Tool for Measuring the Vulnerability of the Residential Stock Based on Multidimensional Indices," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, August.
    18. Xia, Wanjun & Murshed, Muntasir & Khan, Zeeshan & Chen, Zhenling & Ferraz, Diogo, 2022. "Exploring the nexus between fiscal decentralization and energy poverty for China: Does country risk matter for energy poverty reduction?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    19. Łukasz Mamica & Jakub Głowacki & Kamil Makieła, 2021. "Determinants of the Energy Poverty of Polish Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-15, June.
    20. Lee, Heerae & Shon, Huijoo, 2024. "Spatial and temporal patterns of energy aid and poverty in four African countries: Focusing on distributive and recognition justice," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:159:y:2021:i:c:s0301421521005280. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.