ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — It’s easier to play a game of Uno by daylight than candlelight, as Sharona Barnes and her two sons recently learned. Their electricity has been disconnected by Orlando Utilities Commission five times during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company confirmed. Barnes said the longest outage lasted about a week.

“We just told stories like it was a spooky night,” Barnes said, laughing. 


What You Need To Know

  • Governor's Office indicated utility shutoff suspension is unlikely

  • Florida's climate makes it difficult to live without power

  • People struggling financially before COVID having harder time now

  • Some utilities, Project CARE offer assistance programs

The reality of losing power for an extended period of time in Central Florida’s subtropical climate is a real concern for some people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In Barnes’s case, the pandemic forced her to choose between feeding her family and paying for electricity. Her food stamps were up for recertification right around the time when offices closed across the state, Barnes said, making it impossible for her to keep receiving her benefits. Barnes does not have a computer or internet access at home. 

“I didn’t know what to do,” Barnes said. “I'm not going to let my kids starve, so I had to feed them. And that's what got me behind.”

Dilemmas like hers are what’s prompted a coalition of Florida organizations to band together as Connected in Crisis, a group that’s called on Governor Ron DeSantis to issue a statewide moratorium on utility disconnections. 

The group, together with Florida Housing Justice Alliance, sent a letter to the governor’s office September 23 requesting the utility moratorium, as well as an extension of the state’s eviction moratorium, which is set to expire Wednesday at midnight. DeSantis indicated he would let the eviction moratorium expire.

The governor’s office said Wednesday that a moratorium on utility suspensions is unlikely at this time.

Aliki Moncrief is executive director of Florida Conservation Voters, a nonpartisan organization that works to push progressive environmental policies forward. The group is part of the Connected in Crisis coalition.

Moncrief pointed out the relationship between evictions and utility shutoffs, saying that when households lose power, it becomes very difficult for the residents to stay in their home. 

“When you cut off someone’s utilities, you are effectively evicting them," Moncrief said. "You’re making their home unlivable.”

And people who already worried about how to pay their bills before the pandemic began are now struggling even more.

“Even pre-pandemic in Florida, low-income families in particular have a very high energy burden compared to other parts of the country,” Moncrief said.

Besides just having less money to spend on utilities, lower-income families aren’t able to invest in opportunities that could make their homes more energy-efficient and lower their monthly bills, Moncrief explained. OUC does offer a pay-as-you-go option called Power Pass, which spokesperson Tim Trudell said provides customers more control over their electric usage. Barnes uses the Power Pass program.

Early on in the pandemic, OUC implemented community assistance programs, including a $2.6 million utility bill assistance fund for qualified residential customers. Project CARE already helped Barnes: she was approved for $500, the maximum amount of assistance allotted per customer.

“We always have had assistance programs, but we earmarked funds just for this purpose,” Trudell said. “It’s a difficult time for everybody . . . .. We realize that.”

Trudell said OUC does not want to disconnect any customers. But if debt continues to rise, that could impact the entire customer base, by increasing utility rates across the board, he said.

For customers who exhaust the $500 in assistance, “we’d probably continue to work with them,” Trudell said.

“They do need to at least kind of raise up their hand, and say they need some help, and then we’ll figure out a way to help them,” Trudell said.

Barnes, for one, said she is still not in a stable position to pay her utilities going forward, once her assistance runs out. As someone who previously struggled with homelessness, Barnes dreads the idea of returning to the streets with her children.

“I am not feeling secure at all,” Barnes said. “Every day I wake up, I worry if my electricity’s going to be off. I’m in a panic because I don’t want to be put out on the streets and be homeless again.”

Trudell said about a million dollars in assistance is still available for OUC customers who need it via Project CARE, which is administered by Heart of Florida United Way. OUC customers who need assistance paying their utility bills can call United Way’s 211 phone line for more information and to apply.

Molly Duerig is a Report for America corps member who is covering affordable housing for Spectrum News 13. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.