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Almost 50,000 Georgia and North Carolina households had their power shut off by electricity giants in November. In Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee, water access for 12,600 homes — an estimated 32,000 people — was cut off by the nation’s largest private water utility from September through November 2020. Tens of thousands of people lost running water in Jacksonville, Fla., Charleston, S.C., and other communities across the South.
With so many people out of work and short of cash because of the coronavirus, Atlanta-area power companies including Georgia Power and Cobb EMC are suspending shut-offs for people who get behind on their bills. It’s the right thing to do. But in a few weeks or months —when energy costs begin their annual summer spike here in the South — those bills will come due. And meanwhile, the enormous bill for our unjust energy system continues to grow.
There are many inequities that separate Georgians, including access to quality education, thriving-wage employment and health care. But there is one inequity most people don’t pay attention to: energy costs. How our energy is produced and where that energy comes from significantly impacts our household economic stability and the overall quality of our air, water and other natural resources that affect our health and well-being.
There are many inequities that separate Georgians, including access to quality education, thriving-wage employment, and health care. But there is one inequity most people don’t pay attention to energy costs. Nathaniel Smith is the founder and chief equity officer of the Partnership for Southern Equity and chairman of the Atlanta Public School System’s Affordable Housing Taskforce.
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