As of June, nearly one in 20 households went into collections or fell in arrears on their utility bills, according to a new joint report from The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, and advocacy group Protect Borrowers. The problem was even more pronounced in parts of the South and Appalachia, where one in 12 households was already in collections or on the verge of it.
In the last three years, the average overdue balance on utility bills climbed from $597 to $789, a 32% jump, the report found.
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More Americans at risk of shutoffs
When people fail to pay their energy bills on time, it can lead to electricity shutoffs, or when a utility turns off a household's power until people pay the balance, along with a so-called reconnection fee.
Most states have some sort of safeguard against utility shutoffs when the temperature dips below a certain level, but not all. States without cold-weather protection include Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah, according to the Energy Justice Lab, a joint project of Indiana University and the University of Pennsylvania.
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