Energy insecurity has affected Black and Hispanic households disproportionately, and the ongoing pandemic has made things even worse, according to Indiana University researchers in a paper they pub…
NEW ORLEANS — Chris Kinney, a resident of Rapides Parish in central Louisiana, has seen his electricity disconnected eight times in the past two years for falling behind on his energy bills to Cleco Power.
Five power companies — Cleco Power, Kentucky Power Co. and three subsidiaries of Entergy Corp. — averaged more than $17.50 per customer in annual late fee revenues between 2011 and 2020. That’s three times the national average of $5.83 per customer in the same time period. Mary Boyd, who is 83 and lives in New Orleans, said her expensive energy utility bills from Entergy — a major utility provider in Louisiana and three other Southern states — were causing her to choose between medication, and other expenses such as repairing the damage to her fence caused by Hurricane Ida.
But for some major utility providers, including Entergy, late payment fees make up far more of the companies’ revenues than average. If a customer pays the bill quickly, the utility doesn’t have to carry or pursue collection of the debt, Linton said. This saves the utility company money on things like turnoff notices and making phone calls to collect late payments.“Historically few, if any, of the late fees our utilities charge are cost-based,” said Kent Chandler, chairman of the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
Energy insecurity has affected Black and Hispanic households disproportionately, and the ongoing pandemic has made things even worse, according to Indiana University researchers in a paper they published in the science journal Nature Energy.
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