CUB's testimony before the MN Senate on Energy Assistance delays

On Thursday, November 30, CUB's Outreach Director Carmen Carruthers testified before the Minnesota Senate's Rules and Administration Subcommittee on the Federal Impact on Minnesotans and Economic Stability Committee. She shared perspective on how the delay in Energy Assistance funding is impacting Minnesotans.

If you are struggling with your energy bills, there are options while we wait for Energy Assistance to arrive. Take a look at our resource guide, or contact us: 651-300-4701, info@cubminnesota.org, or our contact form.

Madam Chair and Members of the Subcommittee, 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.  My name is Carmen Carruthers.  I am the Outreach Director for the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota, also known as CUB.  CUB is a nonprofit advocate for Minnesota’s residential energy consumers.  In my role as the Outreach Director, I attend community events across the state and talk directly with consumers about their energy issues, concerns, and options. I also regularly support consumers over the phone and via email. People call us about all sorts of energy-related topics, but the most frequent reason is when someone is behind on their energy bills or dealing with their electric or gas service being shut off. The focus of our Outreach work is to understand a consumer’s situation by listening closely, asking questions, and then connecting them with resources to help address whatever their issue or concern might be.  We really try to help people where they're at and explain their options in a way that’s easy to understand.  The consumer interactions we have across the state influence our organization’s advocacy and policy work. 

I am here today to share some insights from recent experiences interacting with Minnesotans struggling to pay their energy bills.  I hope that hearing some of these stories provides additional understanding into what Minnesota families are dealing with as they try to manage all of their household needs, including keeping their electricity on and their homes heated.  

I recently attended an outreach event at a food shelf in Central Minnesota.  We attended with partner organizations who provided important energy resources like window cling for efficiency and comfort, energy saving tips, energy assistance applications and other program information. The most important work we did that day was talking with people seeking help with their energy bills.  This included a household who was already shut off, other households facing shut offs, and those trying to be proactive to get bills under control. These households are facing very challenging situations and the struggle with an energy bill is often just one symptom of greater financial stress. 

We spoke with one gentleman who is currently looking for work but has been advised by his spouse’s doctor to only work part time because he is a caregiver to his wife. We spoke with a woman who had a major medical surgery scheduled and will need time to recover. Another gentleman shared that this was the first time in 20 years he had been unemployed. I could tell he was uncomfortable, and likely overwhelmed, to have to be in a position to seek assistance - it may not have been something he had to do before.

These people exhibited humbleness and humility, and a determination to improve their situations. For example, there was a question about what it would take to buy a home, rather than continuing to rent, with the goal that that would reduce housing costs to be a homeowner. These are people who may be facing permanent, temporary, or intermittent financial challenges. This is the reality for thousands of Minnesotans- sometimes situations improve, sometimes they don’t, and, unfortunately, sometimes they get worse.  These examples are indicative of the types of conversations CUB has on a regular basis.       

We all should recognize that any certain set of unfortunate circumstances, whether it be losing a job or experiencing a health setback, can lead to a cascade of financial concerns that can result to the inability to keep up with energy bills. It may not even be an “unfortunate circumstance” that makes it difficult to pay bills- it can simply be that wages are not high enough to cover the cost of living and people have to constantly reprioritize what gets paid when.  The ability to pay energy bills allows us to function, meet our basic needs, and have a comfortable home. When the inability to pay a bill leads to a shut-off it creates all sorts of additional problems- food goes bad, you can’t charge your phone, can’t do laundry, if you are in a rural area and have a well and septic, that won’t work,  the home can get uncomfortably hot or cold, and the list goes on. We, and other organizations, work really hard to give consumers the tools available to prevent a shut off from happening or get the power/gas turned back on. 

In closing, I would like to encourage all of you to attend events or volunteer at social service organizations, such as food shelves, to have opportunities to interact with folks trying to get by and hear their stories.  While I regularly talk on the phone with consumers, having a conversation face to face is a much richer, impactful human experience. Every interaction we have helps to ground us in our work and helps motivate us to continue to seek both short and long-term solutions to help our state’s residents afford their energy bills. We greatly appreciate your interest in the topic of energy affordability, and I am happy to take any questions. If you have any policy related questions or comments, our Executive Director, Annie Levenson-Falk is here and happy to respond.