ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been sweltering this summer. Thousands of residents there are at risk of having their power cut off when they fall behind on their utility bills. It's an extreme example of what people around the country are facing as temperatures and the price of electricity go up. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Raelynn McMurchy was shocked when she opened her most recent electric bill. After some late payments in the past, the utility had tacked on a deposit of nearly $600, pushing the total to more than 1,300. McMurchy, who works nights at a Tulsa hospital, went on TikTok to record her complaint.
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RAELYNN MCMURCHY: I'm in Tulsa, and our electric bill is literally more than our rent this month. I make decent money, and that's not sustainable for my family. That's crazy.
HORSLEY: Tulsa's main power company, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, wanted to raise customers' electric rates by about 15% this year. But a pending deal with the state attorney general would reduce that rate hike to about 1%. Even with no rate increase, electric bills would be spiking in Tulsa, where TV forecasts are filled with news of the searing summer heat.
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UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER #1: Feels like temperatures close to about 112.
UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER #2: So as we take a look at that full 10-day forecast, every day ahead of us, except for one, at or above 100.
UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER #3: Will be around 107 here in the Tulsa metro, but overall, still a very toasty day.
HORSLEY: Summer heat waves are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of climate change. Even when it's hot, people who fall behind on their bills in Oklahoma are at unusually high risk of having their power cut off. According to a first-of-its-kind tally by the U.S. Energy Department, Public Service Company of Oklahoma cuts power to customers at five or six times the average national rate. While some states prohibit shut off throughout the hot summer months, Oklahoma regulators allow them so long as the heat index is under 101 degrees. Efforts by consumer advocates to lower that threshold have been unsuccessful.
JOANNE PEARSON: I wish every corporation commissioner had to sit in a house that had no electricity when it's 95. That's how I feel.
HORSLEY: Joanne Pearson runs the Helping Hand Ministry in downtown Tulsa. Every Monday and Tuesday morning, cash-strapped customers line up here. Ashley Fonseca Mejia holds a disconnect notice warning she could lose power as soon as the heat index drops by a few degrees. Sitting across a duct tape desk, a volunteer makes a phone call to utility and offers to cover some of her bill.
JOHN JOHNSON: My name is John Johnson. I'm with Helping Hand Ministry here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We'd like to pledge $350 towards this past due and shut off any possible disconnect.
HORSLEY: Fonseca Mejia smiles at the assurance her lights and air conditioning will stay on for now.
ASHLEY FONSECA MEJIA: It is a relief. I mean, these bills have been skyrocketing.
HORSLEY: Eric Widger also gets a helping hand. He works at the Kimberly-Clark toilet paper factory and says his power bill has doubled to around $500 a month.
ERIC WIDGER: I have had it cut off before, and it's really heartbreaking because you may have to pay 7-, $800 just to turn it back on. I make a good living wage, but it's hard with these high bills to even come close.
HORSLEY: Helping Hand spends up to $14,000 a week assisting people with overdue bills. The money comes from foundations and from Tulsa's First Presbyterian Church. Pearson says some of her clients are unemployed or disabled. Others, like Widger, work full time, but still struggle to make ends meet.
PEARSON: It's like they're jugglers, and they got all these balls in the air, and they're going, OK, do I pay rent? Do I pay the electric bill? Do I feed my family? It's constant, and it's never ending.
HORSLEY: Last week, Public Service Company of Oklahoma sent a message to customers defending the rising costs they're facing.
MATT RAHN: We understand people can be frustrated when they open those high summer bills.
HORSLEY: Company spokesman Matt Rahn says the utility has been investing in new generating capacity to meet the growing demand for power while also working to make the grid more reliable.
RAHN: Those are some of the investments that we're seeking recovery on.
HORSLEY: Rising electric bills are a challenge across the country as power prices climb faster than the overall cost of living. Mark Wolfe, who heads a group of state energy assistance officials, says more than 13 million people a year have their power cut off over unpaid bills, including about a million in August.
MARK WOLFE: Nobody wants their power shut off. It's not like the price of beef goes up, you go, well, I'll switch to chicken. You can't switch to chicken here. You have to keep using electricity.
HORSLEY: Wolfe warns the challenge is likely to get worse as electricity prices keep climbing and summers keep getting hotter.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, Tulsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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