Our Network Spoke Up to Keep the Lights On for Vulnerable Vermonters

UPDATE: We're happy to announce that on March 13, 2026,, H.753 was passed out of the House and is now waiting for approval from the Senate Finance Committee. We hope the committee recognizes the importance of this legislation and passes it to the Senate for a general vote. 

In February, 350VT and our allies gave testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure. We spoke in support of H.753, a bill that would protect vulnerable Vermonters from having their utilities disconnected. These disconnections have been accelerating as living costs continue to rise, making it harder for low-income Vermonters to make ends meet. In the first half of 2025 alone, more than 5000 Vermonters were disconnected from their electricity.  

H.753 would expand the options for individuals to get medical notes in order to prevent disconnections if disconnection would cause health hazards. Additionally, it would forbid energy utilities from cutting off service during periods of extreme heat. It would also require the Public Utilities Commission to submit annual reports to the legislature on involuntary disconnections.

Ellen Amstutz, who is Director of the Vermont Parent Child Center Network, spoke about the effects of rising utility costs across Vermont. She highlighted the experience of several families living in Lamoille County:

Lamoille Family Center helped fifteen households last year, paying out $3,300 to the utility company to prevent disconnections. One example was of a two-parent family that welcomed their third child. The mother worked at a local ski area and had to take unpaid maternity leave. There were no infant slots available in the childcare. During this time, the family fell behind with water and electric bills. They live in an unweatherized trailer with electric heat. Lamoille Family Center also shared examples of families who don’t earn enough from jobs to cover their housing costs. Parents are making decisions about whether to pay the rent or the utilities. One family is so far behind with fees and penalties added that it is prohibitive to turn it back on and make monthly payments. A family is living in rental housing that has not been properly maintained and weatherized, resulting in electric bills of more than $1100 during the cold months. The family earns farming wages and cannot make the full monthly payments.

Amstutz observed that poor families are seeing more and more of their incomes eaten up by rising utility costs. “The Parent Child Center Network can help,” she said, “but we are unable to keep up with the needs.”

Richard Butz, who lives in Bristol and sits on the Board of Vermont Interfaith Power and Light, also shared the stories of several people struggling with utility costs. He read this testimony from a Starksboro resident:

Dear sir, I am seventy years old and always have had troubles paying my heating oil fuel bill. For years, I been asking Hope to help and they did. Also fuel assistance help, but now I can no longer continue to ask for any more from them, so [I’m] going without food and clothing. I live in a mobile home in Starksboro. I have watched myself and other persons be victims of high cost heating fuel oil. If they can only deliver a 100 gallons at eight dollars per gallon, that chunk of income [is too much for] seniors like me who retired early due to disability. During the winter months … more than half of our monthly income [goes] to pay for heat and electrical utilities.

Mieke Riddlebarger, Organizing Co-Director at 350VT, emphasized the harsh consequences of utility disconnections. They live in the Northeast Kingdom, which has been especially hard hit by high energy burdens and climate disasters, and they have observed these effects first-hand in their own community:

Being disconnected from your electric service alone often results in a ripple effect of problems: you lose power, you may not be able to charge a phone or laptop needed for work, if you use an electric stove you can no longer prepare meals, and even with a gas stove your fridge and freezer no longer work to keep food and medicine like insulin safe. What about people with complex health needs, like breathing machines or ventilators? What if you rely on electricity to heat or cool your home, especially during periods of extreme weather? H.753 would address these questions and increase protections for vulnerable Vermonters.

We hope you’ll join us in supporting H.753 and in asking your Senators to get behind it. Keep an eye out for future opportunities to support the bill!