Powerless in the Pandemic 2.0: Electric Utilities Are Still Choosing Profits Over People

Electric utilities shut off power 3.6 million times since 2020 while increasing payouts to shareholders, according to new research from the Center for Biological Diversity and BailoutWatch. The report’s key findings: Families had their power shut off more than 3.6 million times between January 2020 and December 2021, with an increase of 79% between 2020 and 2021. A 12-member Hall of Shame — including utility holding companies NextEra Energy (parent of Florida Power & Light), Duke Energy, Southern Company (parent of Georgia Power), Exelon (parent of Pepco), and DTE — perpetrated 87% of all documented disconnections. These companies shut off families over 3 million times in 2020 and 2021 while increasing shareholder payouts by $1.9 billion, or 13%. Those shareholder payout increases could have forgiven the unpaid bills five times over. Eight Hall of Shame companies laid off employees while increasing executive compensation by an average of 24%. Five states accounted for 69% of all disconnections: Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Only 33 states and Washington, D.C., require utilities to disclose disconnections. There is no federal oversight to address this lack of transparency. Though this report presents the most exhaustive data set available, it covers a fraction of the people affected.