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Laurel Peltier Took On Utilities Scamming Baltimore’s Low-Income Households

"Policymakers hoped deregulated energy markets would lower utility bills through open competition. Energy advocates found the opposite: retail energy companies are fleecing low-income communities of color in cities like Baltimore."

"Laurel Peltier fumed and half-muttered an expletive as she pondered the case of Teresa McFadden, 58, a Black woman who stood perplexed on the other side of the reception desk at Cares, a nonprofit helping low-income families meet their food and housing needs.   

McFadden, behind on her bills, was on the verge of getting her electricity cut off, and, in addition to not knowing what to do, had just lost her job.

Bright sunlight flooded the charity’s office nestled inside the single-storied Community Hub building of the Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation in north Baltimore’s Govans neighborhood.

The air conditioning cooled the beige-colored reception area, with a white, chest-high reception desk next to the front door, which beeped every time someone walked in."

Aman Azhar reports for Inside Climate News September 11, 2023.

Source: Inside Climate News, 09/12/2023