Given the Trump Administration’s deep desire to look good, I was amazed that the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released the first report ever on residential utility disconnections.
Why? Because the report does not shine a positive light on Trump’s argument that the economy is strong, and on his claims that the high cost of living is all in our heads.
The statistical and analysis arm of the U.S. Department of Energy didn’t give a full picture, but noted disturbing trends concerning energy affordability in America, particularly among low-income households. Despite Congress mandating the survey in 2023, it’s surprising the report ever surfaced given Trump’s strong concern for his sinking poll numbers on the economy. I suppose that incompetence, grift, distracting from the truth, the Epstein files, the invasion of sovereign countries, and the uproar over illegal tariffs must have had Trump focused elsewhere.
The EIA collected numbers for the year 2024 from energy distribution companies with at least 2,000 customers, including final notices, disconnections and reconnections resulting from residential customers not paying their electricity and natural gas bills on time. At the time, there were 74 million natural gas and 143 million electricity customers in the U.S.
The 46-page report indicates that just over 27 million and almost 95 million final notices were sent to residential natural gas and electricity consumers respectively. According to the report, there were 1.7 million and 13.4 million actual natural gas and electricity disconnections respectively. Reconnections included 1.2 million for natural gas and 11.4 million for electricity.
Trump was not in office in 2024, but he has made the problem worse by gaslighting us about the economy and downsizing this country’s social safety net (including attempts to defund the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program in particular).
To add insult to injury, a recent Energy and Policy Institute (EPI) headline proclaimed: “Federal data shows over 13 million electric shutoffs as industry posts record profits.”
While millions of Americans struggled to keep the lights on, investor-owned utility companies pocketed more than $52 billion in 2024, up almost $3.5 billion from 2023, the EPI noted, adding that separate data helps “underscore the broader affordability challenge.” A related report indicates that low-income households spend almost nine percent of their income on energy – nearly three times the burden on other households – and that about one in six customers are behind on their energy bills.
I was not surprised the American Gas Association and the Edison Electric Institute, which represent U.S. investor-owned utilities, strongly urged the energy department to abandon the survey. The EIA insisted, noting that no comprehensive public study on utility disconnections previously existed.
This 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence signing is a great time to ask how free we are from high energy bills…and how much energy companies, with record high profits, care.