By Patrice J. Robinson, Special to The New Tri-State Defender
The fact that many Memphians, especially African Americans and those
experiencing poverty, struggle to pay their MLGW bills each month will come as no
surprise to you. Over two years ago, Madeleine Taylor, former Executive Director of the
Memphis NAACP, became so concerned with the number of citizens coming into her
office confused and angry about high bills that she decided to take action.
Recently, Memphis was recognized in a national study as one of the most energy
burdened major metropolitan areas in our country, and MLGW’s own customer data
backs up the severity of the issue – the poorest Memphians find themselves paying more
than 25 percent of their monthly income on utilities at this time of year, as winter bears
down hard.
The response to this challenge reached a crescendo this past Tuesday, December
20, when I – joined by Frank Colvett, Janis Fullilove, Martavius Jones, Worth Morgan,
and Jamita Swearengen – introduced a resolution in the Council’s MLGW Committee
urging MLGW’s Board to transition to the existing Share the Pennies home
weatherization program from a customer-elect to a customer-removal design. The force
behind the resolution came originally, not from me or MLGW, but from grassroots and
community leaders working through MLGW’s Neighborhood Advisory Council as well
with partners in the Just Energy Memphis coalition.
These community members recognized the connection between poor housing and
the cycle of poverty and organized around creating a solution to meet the needs of their
own communities. They were also instrumental in ensuring that customers who do not
wish to take part in the round up program will be able to easily remove themselves. In
this resolution, we are just this community’s voices on the Council.
For those not familiar with Share the Pennies, it is an important tool in combating
high-energy burdens across our city and funds energy efficiency and home
weatherization improvements for customers who are financially unable to make these
upgrades themselves. Currently funded by ratepayers choosing to round up their bills to
the nearest dollar each month, Share the Pennies, once restructured to automatically
enroll all ratepayers except those who choose not to participate, will have access to
significantly more funding, potentially more than $1.5 million annually in total, to
improve the efficiency of vulnerable communities’ homes and reduce utility bills by as
much as 20-25 percent. All this only costing any one household an average of just $6
each year and a maximum of $11.88.
As many of us know, these high utility bills significantly affect a family’s ability
to improve its economic conditions. Too often, families are forced to make extremely
difficult financial decisions – do they pay their utility bill or medical bills? Many families
choose to move to a new residence, rather than deal with overdue utility bills, or get their
utilities cut. This instability has perhaps the strongest effect on children, who are more
susceptible to health problems caused by sub-standard, inefficient housing conditions.
Instability at home, whether due to dire financial situations or frequent relocation, causes
children to perform poorly at school and affect their mental health.
This is why I introduced the resolution to bring this much-needed help to lower-
income customers as well as disabled and elderly customers. This change represents a
bold, innovative solution to help improve the housing and quality of life for our most
vulnerable communities. Over the next 6 months, we will be working with grassroots
leaders, utility staff, energy efficiency experts and health professionals to ensure this
program re-design is effective and leads to concrete energy savings and lower utility bills.
I also invite all of you to attend an Energy Justice Town Hall event, being held at
the Central Library, on January 12 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.mm to learn more about this
work and how you can become a part of the solution. MLGW will provide small energy
efficiency kits to attendees of the Energy Justice Town Hall.
(Patrice Robinson represents District 3 on the Memphis City Council.)
