John,

Cutting off water, power, and other essential services is a form of violence—from Detroit to Palestine.

Last week in my district, about 400,000 residents went without power as temperatures reached 95 degrees. Instead of spending their resources on maintaining or upgrading infrastructure for climate resilience, Detroit-based utility company DTE is spending hundreds of thousands each year on private jet flights for shareholders and executives.

DTE is one of the most expensive and most unreliable utilities in the country, and now they’re trying to raise rates yet again. For families who can’t afford skyrocketing prices for gas and electricity, the for-profit utility company cruelly disconnects these life-sustaining services. People then face the risk of eviction and homelessness. Adding insult to injury, DTE even sells residential customers’ debt to a predatory debt collection firm.

This kind of exploitation is happening across the country. So I’m leading efforts in Congress to guarantee our right to affordable and reliable utility services nationwide.

Please sign to demand Congress urgently pass legislation to stop utility companies from shutting off essential public services like water and power. Basic human needs should not be treated as commodities for profit.

Vulnerable communities are disproportionately harmed by power outages and water shutoffs, including elderly and disabled people who rely on electric medical equipment and refrigerated medication. Communities of color and low-wealth communities also spend a greater portion of their income on ever-increasing utility bills. In my hometown of Detroit, the median energy burden for Black households is 54% higher than white households.

As extreme weather events increase with climate change, we need to build resilient power systems that work for everyone. It’s time to change the conversation around what we all deserve, take the profit motive out of providing the basics of a good life, and give every resident the opportunity to thrive.

That’s why I’ve introduced the Resolution Recognizing the Human Rights 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. It recognizes access to water, sanitation, electricity, heating, cooling, public transit, and broadband communications as basic human rights and public services.

I also introduced the Maintaining Access to Essential Services Act, which would stop utility shutoffs, restore disconnected service, end sales of household utility debt to debt collectors, and eliminate household debt for essential utility services like power and water.

Please sign if you agree: Congress must pass bills like the Resolution Recognizing the Human Rights to Utilities and the Maintaining Access to Essential Services Act to stop deadly utility shutoffs, eliminate household debt for essential utility services, restore disconnected utility services, and assert that affordable and reliable utilities are a human right.

Thank you for demanding action. We’ve made some progress so far, but there’s so much more to do to ensure that everyone can survive and thrive.

For example, I passed legislation through the House of Representatives to stop water and power shutoffs during the pandemic, require reconnection of services, and aid families suffering due to limited water access. But it didn’t pass through the Senate.

I also secured more than $1.1 billion in federal funding to assist low-income households who need support in paying off their water bills and paying for fees to reconnect their water service. I promise you I won’t stop fighting for our rights In Congress.

Together, we’ll continue working to save lives at home and abroad. The push to value all life and respect human rights is connected across borders, from the United States to Palestine and beyond.

In solidarity,

Rashida