As lights go out all over country
Poor community fights utility giant
By Sharon
Black
Baltimore
Most people are aware of the California energy crisis that
has captured headlines because of rolling power outages and
soaring prices. But the greed of giant energy corporations is
also affecting millions of workers and poor people across the
United States as gas and electric bills double and
triple.
The social and political consequences are just beginning
to be felt.
Mark Wolfe--director of the National Energy Assistance
Association that represents state agencies giving energy aid
to the poor--estimates that at least 3.6 million families in
18 states face utility shutoffs.
An Iowa survey showed that poor families in the state are
cutting back on medical care and prescription drugs to pay
for heat; 12 percent reported cutting back on food. The state
reported 180,000 families owe $34 million in unpaid
bills--double the previous year's record.
The state of Missouri has already spent all its federal
assistance money and is likely to have no funds to help with
summer air-conditioning bills. Kentucky reported 94,000
households with pending shutoffs. One utility company in that
state has recorded a 300-percent increase in unpaid
bills.
'Heat and light are a right'
In Maryland, the Public Service Commission reports that
9,200 families had service cut off between April 1 and
mid-May. Some people report being forced to wait 45 days to
receive meager energy assistance money.
The Committee to Stop High Gas and Electric Bills of the
All-People's Congress is fighting to win a roll back in rates
and to stop all shutoffs.
The committee maintains that heat and light are a right
for all people. People's rights must come before profits.
The group has held several major demonstrations. Some of
its members have been jailed protesting the exorbitant bills
people face.
On May 23, the group held a People's Hearing at the
downtown War Memorial Building. For almost four hours people
testified angrily about the impact of sky-high bills and
shutoffs. Several hundred people attended, many with their
utility bills in hand.
A panel of community, labor and church representatives
heard the testimony. The panel included AFL-CIO Statewide
Field Director Fred Mason; President of the Baltimore branch
of the NAACP G.I. Johnson; homeless advocate Brendan Walsh
from Viva House; Rita Winstead of AFSCME 112; David Noy of
Jewish Family Services; Dave Hoshall of the Maryland Human
Relations Commission; Pastor William Johnson; and striking
UNITE members Alva Murphy and JoEllen Chernow.
Representatives from the People's Counsel, the Governor's
Energy Office and the Public Service Commission also attended
along with State Senator Clarence Mitchell IV and State
Delegates Verna Jones and Salima Marriot.
People's Video Network and local television affiliates
videotaped the hearing.
At the hearing Jeff Bigelow, a volunteer organizer with
the APC committee, proposed a protest at the home of
Christian Poindexter, president of Constellation Energy,
parent company of BG&E. The APC had previously protested
inside his downtown office suite.
Bigelow stated, "The new figures on Poindexter's earnings
show he has received a 45-percent increase. The 2000 figures
compiled by the AFL-CIO nationally place his earnings at $20
million a year. That amount could not only prevent all the
shutoffs but could provide free gas and electric to everyone
in Baltimore."
Community people acted on Bigelow's proposal on May 26. In
a daring act, they boarded buses and car-pooled to
Poindexter's country home overlooking the Chesapeake Bay in
Arnold, Md.
The group sang protest songs as they began a news
conference in front of the CEO's home. Several committee
representatives told of families who had lost their lives in
fires related to lack of gas and electric service.
Demonstrators laid flowers on the ground and vowed to
honor those who died by fighting to stop the shutoffs.
Don Dasher, a representative of Baltimore Gas &
Electric, sent a special letter to the group expressing his
dismay that protesters had targeted Poindexter's home. Renee
Washington, an organizer with the All-People's Congress,
answered Dasher's letter at the media conference.
Washington argued, "BGE comes to our homes and turns off
our utilities--why shouldn't we come to his home?"
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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