A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans are still unemployed or working from home. More time at home means more energy use and higher utility bills. 

25% of all households in the U.S. say they are struggling with utility bills. Families struggling to afford their bills are forced to make the impossible choice to cut back on critical necessities such as medication or food or continue heating or cooling their home. 

With many parts of the country experiencing extreme weather conditions, Congress can and must act to ensure that all Americans can remain #SafeAtHome - starting with immediate relief of a moratorium on utility shut-offs and alleviating utility debt. 

Then it’s time to get to work weatherizing homes. Making homes more energy-efficient not only improves the health and safety of working families but also provides hundreds of thousands of local, good-paying jobs. Sign the petition to urge Congress to pass funding to modernize and upgrade at least one million low-income family homes.  

**We ask for your complete address so that we can identify your members of Congress. Prefixes are required by Congressional recipients.

 

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Sign The Petition

Dear Member of Congress,

With millions of people either unemployed or working from home, people continue to spend an unprecedented amount of time inside, contributing to higher utility bills that families are struggling to pay, with low-income families hit hardest. 

Facing sub-zero temperatures in drafty homes is already dangerous and expensive, even more so when people lose power. But for many low-income Americans, struggling with high utility bills and inadequate heating or cooling is a daily reality. Families shouldn’t have to choose between turning the heat on or affording food or medicine. We need to protect low-income families from high utility bills, mounting utility debt, and power shut-offs by investing in low-income home energy efficiency. 

I urge you to ensure that any COVID-19 relief and economic recovery legislation include: 

    1. Institute a federal utility shut-off moratorium to get immediate relief to families fighting to keep the heat on.
    2. Alleviating the utility debt of households struggling to survive COVID-19 and extreme weather.
    3. Investing enough to weatherize at least one million low-income homes to ensure Americans stay safe at home. 

Now is the time to protect families from utility shut-offs and an economic stimulus that invests in the weatherization assistance program and an inclusive workforce development and job training program for underrepresented workers. 

Thank you for your work on this important issue.

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