Record 20 MILLION Americans are behind on their power bills and face cutoffs

The United States is facing a looming crisis of utility shutoffs, with a record number of households falling behind on their power bills, industry observers and experts say.

About 20 million US households, or one out of six homes, are behind on their utility bills, the most on record, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (Neada).

‘I expect a tsunami of shutoffs,’ Jean Su, a senior attorney at the non-profit Center for Biological Diversity, which tracks the power industry, told Bloomberg this week. 

Electricity prices have soared due to rising costs for natural gas, which has skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.

At the same time, inflation is sending the prices of groceries and everyday necessities soaring, and many households have had to make tough choices about whether to pay utility bills or put food on the table.

Electricity prices have risen sharply in the US, hitting record-high $0.166 per kW-h in July

US households now owe $16 billion in late energy bills, double the pre-pandemic total

Millions of Americans could face utility cutoffs in the coming month, with households now owing $16 billion in late energy bills, double the pre-pandemic total, according to Neada. 

The average overdue balance has climbed 97 percent since 2019, to $792, the group says. 

‘The bills just aren’t affordable,’ says Mark Wolfe, Neada’s executive director. ‘People on the bottom, they can’t pay this.’ 

In July, the average price of electricity in the US hit a record-high $0.166 per kilowatt hour, a 4 percent jump from the prior month and up 16 percent from a year ago, according to Commerce Department data.

Natural gas is the largest single source of electricity generation in the US, accounting for about 38 percent of all power generated last year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Prices for natural gas have surged worldwide following the war in Ukraine. Russia is a major supplier of natural gas to Europe, but Moscow’s warmongering halted plans to open a key new pipeline, and disrupted Russian exports to Europe.

The US has responded by boosting gas exports to European allies, constraining domestic supply and raising prices at home. 

Natural gas is the largest single source of electricity generation in the US, accounting for about 38 percent of all power generated last year

Steam rises out of the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island in Middletown, Pennsylvania in a file photo

As electricity prices soar, many Americans are being pushed closer to disaster, facing the prospect of electricity shutoffs amid dangerously hot temperatures.

Single mother Adrienne Nice, 45, of Minneapolis told Bloomberg that she awoke on July 25 to find her power shut off, after racking up $3,000 in overdue utility bills.

Nice, a housecleaner who lives with her teenage son, had been struggling financially since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Rising gas prices meant that driving from job to job now takes a significant cut out of her income, and soaring utility bills made it impossible for her to keep up with payments, she said.

With a heatwave approaching, Nice scrambled to find a solution, and was fortunate to get her power re-connected in three days with the assistance of a charity group.

Inflation has forced Americans to spend more each month on groceries and gas

As electricity prices soar, many Americans are being pushed closer to disaster, facing the prospect of electricity shutoffs amid dangerously hot temperatures (stock image)

The crisis is even more dire in the UK and Europe, which rely on natural gas to generate a greater share of their electricity. 

In the UK, millions of people are expected to pay about 80 percent more per year on their household energy bills starting in October. 

The UK’s main energy regulator on Friday is set to announce its new price cap, which is the maximum amount that gas suppliers can charge customers per unit of energy. 

Analysts expect the new cap to mean people pay up to 3,600 pounds ($4,240) a year for heating and electricity, up from a cap of 1,200 pounds last winter. 

US bank Citi forecast that the huge energy cost increases could drive UK inflation to 18 percent next year. The Bank of England predicts a recession starting later this year. 

Germany has put emergency measures in place to limit energy consumption, banning illuminated billboards and restricting heating in public buildings.