Democrats Offer Resolution To Guarantee Utility Services for all Americans
Plan would also reduce reliance on fossil fuels
A pair of progressive House Democrats want to make utility shut-off notices a thing of the past.
Reps Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York, both freshmen members of Congress, introduced a public power resolution.
The resolution would set up a framework to guarantee basic utility services for all Americans, while reducing the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.
“Our country must transform its power system to be just, equitable, anti-racist, and climate- and disaster-resilient,” said Congresswoman Bush. “For too many families in St. Louis and across the country, the high cost of energy means having to choose between keeping the heat on in the winter or buying groceries. I, myself, have had to make that choice. This is a problem that does not affect everyone equally.
"The burden of high energy costs is felt disproportionately by low-income and Black and brown families. Every person has the right to these basic services and by making them public goods, we can unburden families and reduce our country’s dependence on fossil fuels,” she added.
Specifically, the Public Utilities Resolution calls to:
Fund a just energy transition for public and co-op providers, to replace existing infrastructure with renewable, affordable alternative sources of power.
Make federal energy renewable by requiring federal power providers, including the Tennessee Valley Authority & Power Marketing Agencies, to become accountable public, renewable power utilities.
Transition from investor-owned power to renewable public power by establishing aggressive targets for investor-owned utilities’ decarbonization and end of shutoffs and bringing non-compliant utilities into an appropriate scale of public ownership.
Promote energy democracy and transparent processes by establishing federal guidelines and incentives to enable communities and workers to hold all utilities accountable.
Ensure grid resilience and universal access to affordable power by enacting a universal ban on electricity disconnections for nonpayment and enforcing progressive residential electricity rates.
“We need a transformation to our energy system that not only reflects our climate reality,” said Rep. Bowman. “We need an energy system that is of, by, and for the people — not corporations seeking the largest possible profit. As long as energy is treated as a commodity, not a right, poor people, workers, and communities of color will suffer. We need to make power a public utility to end man-made energy disasters and ensure that no family ever has to choose between keeping the lights on or feeding their kids. I’m proud to stand with Rep. Bush so that we can move closer to that future we all deserve.”
The resolution is co-sponsored by Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich), Marie Newman (D-Ill), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn), and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz).
The full text of the resolution can be found here.
A summary of the resolution can be found here.