In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Sanya Carley, a professor and faculty director at the University of Pennsylvania and a university fellow at Resources for the Future, about energy poverty in the United States. Carley discusses the problem of utility disconnections, which occurs when a utility turns off a household’s water, electricity, or heat; the potentially risky strategies that households employ to avoid shutoffs by reducing energy consumption and costs; the groups that are most vulnerable to disconnection; and potential improvements to government programs that help low-income households pay utility bills.

References and recommendations:

“Behavioral and financial coping strategies among energy-insecure households” by Sanya Carley, Michelle Graff, David M. Konisky, and Trevor Memmott; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2205356119

“Assessing demographic vulnerability and weather impacts on utility disconnections in California” by Trevor Memmott, David M. Konisky, and Sanya Carley; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53913-y

“Which households are energy insecure? An empirical analysis of race, housing conditions, and energy burdens in the United States” by Michelle Graff, Sanya Carley, David M. Konisky, and Trevor Memmott; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629621002371

Utility Disconnections Dashboard; https://energyjustice.indiana.edu/disconnection-dashboard/index.html

“The incidence of extreme economic stress: Evidence from utility disconnections” by Steve Cicala; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272721000979

“High temperatures and electricity disconnections for low-income homes in California” by Alan Barreca, R. Jisung Park, and Paul Stainier; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01134-2

“Minnesota’s energy paradox: Household energy insecurity in the face of racial and economic disparities” by Bhavin Pradhan and Gabriel Chan; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1040619024000587

“The Night Watchman” by Louise Erdrich; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-night-watchman-louise-erdrich

Energy Poverty and Utility Disconnections in the United States, with Sanya Carley

Resources Radio is a weekly podcast by Resources for the Future. Each week we talk to leading experts about climate change, electricity, ecosystems, and more, making the latest research accessible to everyone.

New tracks tagged #Power utilities