As Coloradans continue to experience sticker shock each time they open their utility bill, the volume of calls to Energy Outreach Colorado's helpline has been off the charts, topping 16,000 calls per week.

Michel Infante, energy assistance project manager for Energy Outreach Colorado, said they are processing more than 700 new applications each week. The good news is, help is available, even for people who have had to tap the program's funds in the past.

"At EOC, we just want to bring awareness to the folks that are having a hard time right now that we have resources to help them," Infante explained. "And it doesn't necessarily have to be folks that have never asked for this kind of help."

Xcel Energy blames rising natural gas prices for high utility bills, yet its gross profits in 2022 came in at more than $8.3 billion, an increase of more than 10% from the previous year.

Last year, more than 71,000 Colorado customers received more than $87 million in utility-bill assistance. Those who need help paying an energy bill, know someone who does, or are at risk of being disconnected can call the helpline at 866-432-8435.

While high- and middle-income households may not like the big bump in their energy bills, most can write a check without having to cut back on the basics such as housing, food and medicine. Infante pointed out families bringing home significantly smaller paychecks are facing difficult decisions, and many do not have emergency savings.

"If you have a lower-income family who is already struggling, then you increase their utility bill, they are going to have to sacrifice one thing or another to be able to stay warm in the winter," Infante added.

Xcel said investments in wind and solar, which generate electricity without the need to purchase fossil fuels, have blunted $700 million in energy costs, which otherwise would have been passed along to customers.

Infante noted the money being made available to help struggling families keep the heat on in winter comes from former and current customers, in the form of a small fee on their utility bill.

"And that fee goes to support programs such as this one," Infante stressed. "No one should feel bad about asking for help, because we're all kind of putting it in the pot, and we can grab from that pot when we need some help."

Consumer groups are calling for the withdrawal of a bill that would change the way California's auto lemon law works - before the legislative session ends this week. Assembly Bill 1755's backers say it would reduce delays in getting reimbursed for a defective new car.

Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, said it would also mean if a problem arises more than six years after the sale, the lemon law no longer applies.

"It would shorten the statute of limitations for filing a lemon-law case to just one year after the warranty expires. Right now it's four years after you find out you have a claim," she explained.

The bill would also require consumers to file a formal written complaint instead of simply calling the dealer. Bill co-author State Senator Tom Umberg said in a statement that the bill "is a necessary step towards streamlining and strengthening California's 'Lemon Law' to get drivers out of the judicial system and back on the road more quickly."

General Motors is the biggest backer of the bill. Shahan suggests car manufacturers are looking for ways to avoid paying to repair or replace vehicles.

"What they're trying to do is reduce their warranty compliance costs, like last year alone, Ford paid out $1.9 billion in warranty repairs, and they're under pressure by Wall Street to reduce their warranty costs," she continued.

She added the bill would also mean that manufacturers would no longer have to pay off the amount people may still owe on a lemon car. So some people may not be able to get a buy-back unless they can come up with thousands of dollars up front.

A controversial Illinois law signed earlier this month has pushed landlords and tenants even further apart.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Landlord Retaliation Act, which puts restrictions on landlords. The measure prevents them from terminating leases, increasing rent or threatening a tenant with a lawsuit over disputes. Further restraints include barring them from refusing to renew a lease after a tenant has filed a code violation complaint.

John Bartlett, executive director of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization, supported the measure and views it as another layer of protection for tenants.

"A lot of tenants end up getting retaliated against because they've complained to a governmental agency or requested an inspection because of poor maintenance issues in a building," Bartlett pointed out. "What it does is it creates a presumption, a rebuttable presumption, for eviction court, that a tenant can defend themselves against the eviction."

Bartlett seeks more landlord accountability and believes one solution to curb tenant discrimination and retaliatory behavior is a just cause for eviction law. It permits landlords to evict tenants for any or no reason as long as notice is given before eviction papers are filed in court. Under Illinois law, a landlord must notify a tenant in writing of the intention to terminate a lease. A 30-day notice is required for month-to-month leases, and a 60-day notice for a yearly lease.

Although the Landlord Retaliation Act passed Springfield's House and Senate chambers by nearly 2-1, the legislation has drawn the ire of some landlords.

Paul Arena, director of legislative affairs for the Illinois Rental Property Owners Association, opposed the measure, claiming it prevents landlords from standing up for themselves and creates liability for making ordinary and necessary management decisions such as a rent increase to cover rising costs or a change of property rules or a decision not to renew a lease.

"The way the law is written, if a tenant calls and said, 'My drain is plugged up,' and the landlord comes that very day and unplugs their drain, then the presumption in the law now is that any action the landlord takes for a year following that request is presumed to be in retaliation for having made that request," Parena argued.

He warned the measure could prove to hurt the people it is designed to help the most by decreasing the number of landlords entering the market and higher rents in an already tight housing market.


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Housing advocates said they are seeing more Kentuckians affected by electricity shut-offs.

In 2022, the number of Kentuckians who had their power disconnected increased by 228% compared to a 29% increase nationwide, according to data from the Energy and Policy Institute and Center for Biological Diversity.

Cara Cooper, coordinator for Kentuckians for Energy Democracy, said LG&E and KU, one of Kentucky's largest investor owned utilities, ranks among the top twelve worst offenders in the nation when it comes to utility disconnections. She pointed out in some cases, power was shut off for as little as $9 owed in payment.

"Currently, Kentucky is one of only 10 states that has no weather related protections for disconnections," Cooper explained. "That means that disconnection protections are happening at the utility level. That's a problem because it's not one policy across the board for the entire state."

Mountain Association and other Kentucky advocacy groups recently signed onto a petition calling for federal legislation to protect households from utility disconnections during extreme weather. The Preventing Unnecessary Deaths During Life-Threatening Events or PUDDLE Act is similar to House Bill 180, introduced by Kentucky lawmakers twice during legislative sessions.

Sarah Pierce, housing and energy affordability program coordinator for the Metropolitan Housing Coalition, said utility disconnection is tied to housing affordability. She observed people will forego other important bills, groceries or medicine in order to pay their electric bill, or turn to risky methods of heating their home in winter, such as kerosene stoves. For people with young children or the medically vulnerable, power shut-offs can be deadly.

"What we see happening with people who are disconnected during extreme heat or extreme cold, we're seeing a lot of adverse health effects, heat strokes, heat illness," Pierce outlined.

Tomorrow, Metropolitan Housing Coalition and Kentuckians For Energy Democracy are hosting a webinar on utility disconnection protections during extreme weather.


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