John,

From Detroit to Palestine, cutting off water and other essential services is a form of violence.

In my city, thousands of Detroiters have had their access to water shut off, whether because of lead contamination or because people can’t afford to pay skyrocketing water bills. And this winter, over 100,000 people in Southeast Michigan were forced to go days without power and heat during extreme cold due to power outages.

Instead of investing in needed infrastructure to prevent outages, our region’s investor-owned utility monopoly (DTE Energy) enriches its executives and shareholders.

Despite some of the least reliable service in the country, DTE charges some of the highest rates in the country. After securing a rate increase in December, DTE just filed to raise rates again on people who cannot afford to pay.

Each year, DTE cruelly disconnects life-sustaining services for hundreds of thousands of households who can’t afford rising rates. DTE even sells residential customers’ debt to a predatory debt collection firm. Across the country, other for-profit utility companies are doing the same.

This is unacceptable. Basic human needs should not be treated as commodities for profit.

If you agree, please sign on to support the Resolution Recognizing the Human Right to Utilities, which asserts that affordable and reliable utilities are a human right, and demands an end to utility shutoffs and cancellation of household utility debt.

Thank you for taking action to demand human rights. I will continue fighting for our right to access clean water along with other life-sustaining utility services, as part of ensuring human dignity for all people.

In service,

Rashida

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Rashida Tlaib
Date: Sat, April 13, 2024
Subject: Sign on to support the Resolution Recognizing the Human Right to Utilities
To: [email protected]

John,

From Detroit to Palestine, access to reliable and affordable utility services is a human right. Wherever you live in the United States, we are seeing large increases in our basic utilities, including water that has gone up by 400%.

In my state of Michigan, we saw our costs skyrocket while power outages increased throughout our community. Despite charging some of the highest rates in the nation, Michigan’s investor-owned utility monopoly DTE Energy provides some of the most unreliable service.

After securing a new rate hike in December, DTE Energy just filed to raise rates again on people in my district who cannot afford to pay. Now, DTE has requested an additional rate hike that will cost our residents $450 million.

The vast majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and can’t afford skyrocketing rates for essential services. Millions of people have fallen behind on ever-increasing utility bills and face possible shutoffs of their power, water, and gas.

Utility companies treat these life-sustaining needs as commodities, which disproportionately impacts communities of color and low-wealth communities, who spend a greater portion of their income on energy bills.

I’m leading efforts in Congress to stop utility shutoffs, including introducing legislation with Reps. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman to assert that affordable and reliable utilities are a human right, and to demand an end to utility shutoffs for nonpayment, as well as cancellation of household utility debt.

Please add your name to support our Resolution Recognizing the Human Right to Utilities, which calls on lawmakers to stop utility companies from shutting off essential public services.

In addition to pushing in Congress to guarantee our right to affordable and reliable utility services, I’ve joined local grassroots groups to protest DTE Energy’s rate hikes and to hold them accountable.

Instead of investing in needed infrastructure to prevent outages, DTE Energy enriches their executives and shareholders and spends millions on campaign contributions to avoid real accountability.

Meanwhile, DTE cruelly disconnects life-sustaining service for hundreds of thousands of households each year, and even sells residential customers’ debt to a predatory debt collection firm.

And customers who can afford to pay still end up suffering. During the recent extreme cold, over 100,000 DTE customers in Southeast Michigan were forced to go days without power and heat this winter.

Basic human needs should not be treated as commodities for profit. If you agree, please sign on to support the Resolution Recognizing the Human Right to Utilities, which asserts that affordable and reliable utilities are a human right, and demands an end to utility shutoffs and the cancellation of household utility debt.

Thank you for taking action. I promise I will keep fighting for the rights we all deserve, so our communities can thrive.

In Congress, I helped create a fund totalling $1.1 billion to stop water shutoffs during the pandemic, and secured a ban on utility shutoffs in a bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

Our right to utilities includes the right to access clean water. I have passed historic amendments that would provide $23 billion to fully replace dangerous lead pipes, moved the EPA to replace lead service lines, and created the bipartisan Get the Lead Out Caucus in the House of Representatives where I’m continuing to push for urgent action to remove toxic lead pipes.

In service,

Rashida