With tens of millions unemployed and widespread losses of wages and jobs across the country, many families are unable to pay for essential services like electricity, water, telephone, and broadband during this crucial time in fighting COVID-19.

Millions of families may face utility shut-offs, with the heaviest impacts on low-income families and communities of color. These are the same communities that have borne the brunt of environmental injustice, living with increased rates of asthma, lower air quality and less access to healthcare.

This is unacceptable.

We need a nationwide moratorium that protects everyone, not a patchwork response where many families have no protections at all. On April 13, we joined 830 utility-justice, environmental, faith, civil-rights and labor groups to demand Congress institute a moratorium on all essential utility shut-offs.

Call on your elected leaders to stop utility shut-offs and build solutions that protect the most vulnerable:

• Tell Congress to include an immediate, nationwide moratorium on shut-offs of electricity, water, telephone, broadband, and all other essential utilities as part of the next COVID-19 rescue package, and invest significant stimulus funds into long-term solutions to reduce energy burdens, including distributed clean energy systems and equitable utility payment plans.
• Tell your Governor and state lawmakers: Thank you for taking action. Please go further to ensure moratorium orders are enforced and cover all essential utilities, and to create a COVID-19 recovery based on long-term solutions to reduce energy burdens.

Please take a moment to customize your letter. Your elected leaders need to hear about what you, your family, and community are experiencing and need during this emergency.

States / territories WITH a moratorium: CA, CT, DC, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MS, MT, NH, NY, NC, PA, PR, TN, TX, VT, VA, WI. If your state has NO moratorium in place, take action here.