A coalition of advocacy groups is urging Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear to halt utility disconnections in Kentucky until March.
The groups, led by the advocacy campaign Kentuckians for Energy Democracy, gathered Monday morning in front of the state Capitol in Frankfort urging Beshear to issue a moratorium amid an uncertain future for federal housing, heating and food assistance.
The groups made a similar call to action during the record-long federal government shutdown earlier this year.
A release from the coalition — which includes the Metropolitan Housing Coalition, the Kentucky Conservation Committee, Sierra Club Kentucky, VOCAL-KY, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and others — states “a reprieve from the recent government shutdown doesn’t change the dire situation that many people are facing this winter amidst rising electricity and other costs.”
“And no one should have to choose between groceries, buying medicine, or keeping the heat on. Yet, Kentucky continues to have no statewide utility disconnection policy for extreme weather conditions,” the coalition wrote in a media release.
Some of the advocacy groups during past legislative sessions in Frankfort have been supporting state legislation that would prevent disconnections during extreme weather. During this year’s legislative session, a Democratic-sponsored bill to limit when utilities could disconnect a customer, including on what the temperature is outside, did not advance in the GOP-controlled legislature.
Cara Cooper, the coordinator for Kentuckians for Energy Democracy, previously told the Lantern that Beshear has the power to issue a moratorium through executive order similar to an order he issued in the beginning months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cooper in a Lantern interview after the rally said the groups plan to advocate for utility disconnection protections heading into next year’s legislative session.
“Every week that we stall on this, more people are at risk,” Cooper said, mentioning the cold weather Kentucky is experiencing this week. “We will continue to work on this issue because it remains really important.”
The amount of federal funding approved by the GOP-controlled Congress for various social safety net programs still remains to be seen, though the Trump administration has proposed eliminating a federal program that provides billions of dollars nationwide to help low-income people afford heating and cooling costs. Kentuckians received tens of millions of dollars in funding through the Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP in the last fiscal year.
This story was originally published by the Kentucky Lantern and republished here with permission.