$2,200 for the year: That’s the utility bill that almost broke me.
You’ve probably heard the statistic that most Americans can’t afford a $500 emergency. But hardly anyone talks about how electricity bills have become that emergency for families like mine — and all because of corporate greed.
I always thought utilities were government agencies like the DMV. Yet when I did my research, I found out I was wrong. It turns out that NV Energy, the so-called “public utility” that wreaks havoc on my household finances, is part of a for-profit corporation called Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) — which is run by billionaire Warren Buffett and traded on Wall Street.
But it’s not just a problem in my state of Nevada. 72 percent of Americans are forced to get their energy from for-profit, monopoly utilities like mine.
Monopoly utilities are a reliable moneymaker for shareholders, because federal and state regulators allow them an average 10 percent return on equity. These corporations then raise our rates to pay for political lobbying and to expand fossil fuel infrastructure, rather than investing in cheap and renewable energy like solar and wind.
It reached 120 degrees in Nevada last summer. Every time I plugged in my fan to cool down, it made my anxiety rise because I already couldn’t afford my electric bill. When I learned our rate hikes weren’t out of necessity but simply to reward ultra-wealthy investors like Buffett, it felt like a punch in the gut.
Energy is a basic human need. We all need to keep our lights on, stay cool in the summer, and warm up in the winter. Yet a third of U.S. families like mine struggle to pay our energy bills, so we often must choose between food or medicine and energy every month.
So for our vulnerable family, friends, and community members, not having power is more than an inconvenience. If they need dialysis, a respiratory device, or a mobility aid to survive, it’s a matter of life and death.
Private corporations should never profit off our pain in this way, especially in a state as windy and sunny as mine. Yet NV Energy doesn’t take advantage of all this free power to lower our bills. Instead, they burn fossil fuels to generate electricity, which powers a vicious cycle.
Their pipelines and gas plants pollute our air, water, and homes, and intensify climate catastrophes. And when deadly wildfires — like the ones in Reno last November — strike, they cause costly damage.
Now NV Energy even wants ordinary ratepayers to fund fire insurance for fires they make worse with their own dirty fossil fuels. All while our utility bills go up and up.
Energy demand is rising everywhere because of AI and big tech data centers. And across the country, utilities are charging us billions to build new gas and fossil fuel plants. We’re paying the price many times over. First, to build these plants. Second, to subsidize big tech. Third, to rebuild the dirty, expensive, unreliable grid after a climate catastrophe knocks it down.
Enough is enough. Our power bills are already too damn high, and the only way any of this will change is if we demand it. That’s why starting on April 1, which climate activists call “Fossil Fools Day,” folks like me who are headed into hot summers, hurricane season, and being threatened with disconnection are mobilizing “Lights Out on Monopoly Power” actions — and organizing to hold greedy corporations like BHE accountable.
It’s time for monopoly utilities to get out of the dirty, unreliable, and expensive fossil fuel business. So that as long as the sun is in the sky and the wind blows, we can all get clean and reliable energy, with bills we can afford.
