John,

As communities across the country endure heat waves during the hottest summer on record, 400,000 people in Michigan went without power last week.

Power outages are deadly in 95-degree weather, and with climate change, we must make critical infrastructure updates for climate resilience. But many utilities are failing to do so, particularly leaving behind Black and brown communities in a process known as “utility redlining.”

In my district, people rely on a profit-driven monopoly that’s one of the most expensive and most unreliable utility corporations in the country. DTE keeps trying to raise rates on people who cannot afford to pay, while DTE’s CEO makes $10 million a year, and the company spends hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on private jet flights for their shareholders and executives. For example, they spent about $16,000 on a one-way trip for a single board member.

I’ve joined grassroots groups to protest DTE’s rate hikes and hold them accountable. I’m also fighting for a national ban on utility shutoffs, because life-sustaining utility services like water, electricity, and gas are basic human needs and rights which must be accessible to all. They’re not commodities to be privatized or sold for profit.

Please sign to urge Congress 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.

To ensure universal access to life-sustaining utilities, I’ve introduced legislation like the Resolution Recognizing the Human Rights to Utilities and the Maintaining Access to Essential Services Act to 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.

We urgently need Congress to pass such legislation and end cruel and inhumane utility shutoffs.

With most U.S. residents living paycheck to paycheck, millions of families cannot afford the skyrocketing prices of these essential services. Many families have fallen behind on ever-increasing utility bills and face possible shutoffs of their power, water, and gas.

Families with mounting utility debt are not only cut off from services essential to survival, but they also face possible eviction and homelessness.

Meanwhile, utility CEOs and investors rake in profits.

As Gaby Sarri-Tobar with the Center for Biological Diversity explained: “This is a matter of life and death for many households, so it’s ludicrous that wealthy utilities can single-handedly cut off basic human rights like electricity, water and broadband.”

Please sign now to urge Congress to pass legislation like the Resolution Recognizing the Human Rights to Utilities and the Maintaining Access to Essential Services Act. It’s past time to treat these life-sustaining services as human rights that should be accessible to everyone.

Thank you for taking action. Together, we’re going to keep fighting for our human rights, including everyone’s right to access the utility services they need to survive.

In solidarity,

Rashida

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Rashida Tlaib
Date: Thu, Sep 5, 2024
Subject: Cutting off water and power is a form of violence
To: [email protected]

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