Your Utilities: Lights On, Bills Paid

Safe, reliable and affordable public utilities, like clean running water, electricity and broadband access, are not just conveniences.  They are essential to our health, safety, economy and even our national security.

You might be wondering…

Will I be able to tell if there’s something bad in the water? What if the pipe-replacement project stalls halfway through? Were all of those new rules about water contaminants just overkill? Our town water seems to work just fine. Why mess with it? What if I live in the West—and someone else controls my water? Will the water used for the farms mean there’s less drinking water for our city? Why can’t I just water my lawn when- ever I want? I live in L.A., why do Colorado and Wyoming get to tell us how much water we can use? What if my power bill keeps going up— and I don’t know why? Why is power getting more expensive even though there are so many empty office buildings? I thought we were gener- ating more energy, where’s it all going? We’re trying to use less heat and AC to save on electric bills, is there anything else we can do? What if my child’s school closes—and I don’t have the internet? What if my job depends on the energy transition? What were all those manufacturing jobs that disappeared this year? What happened to that solar plant they were building outside of town? My kid is studying to be an electrical engineer, is that still a good choice?

How will I know if the water is safe to drink?

Even though the tragedy of so many children getting lead poisoning from the drinking water in Flint Michigan in 2014, hasn’t been and shouldn’t be forgotten, 9% of all drinking water lines were still lead in 2023. The Infrastructure Improvement and Jobs Act and the EPA were supposed to fix that, and promised more than $17 billion dollars to get the job done. Now, that funding is at risk and at the same time, the Trump Administration is rolling back other water-safety rules including the “National Primary Drinking Water Regulation” intended to protect all of us from PFAS contamination in drinking water.

Cuts and proposed cuts to the EPA – 50% cut requested for 2027 – will massively cut federal support for clean water including the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds.

What if I can’t afford my electric bill?

In a world where we rely on air conditioning to protect us from extreme heat and internet skills are necessary for almost all job applications (lately for a lot of government benefits applications too), we all need reliable, affordable and abundant electricity.  Two important government programs that helped people afford energy costs are LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the Standard Utility Deduction in SNAP. The Big Beautiful Bill Act will cut American’s ability to qualify for the SNAP Standard Utility Deduction. And the President has proposed cancelling LIHEAP entirely. 

More than 6 million Americans rely on LIHEAP to help them afford basic home energy.

The President’s budget request for 2027, once again seeks to eliminate funding for the program.

I want to install solar panels on my farm.  Will I be able to get a grant to help cover the cost?

The REAP, Rural Energy for America Program, has provided farmers with financial support for the installation of energy efficient systems – solar, wind and other energy upgrades – for more than two decades. It helped make farms more energy efficient, lessened their environmental impact, and created vital sources of energy in rural areas which can be hard for utility providers to reach and maintain services in. But, REAP grant winners and hopeful applicants, are facing a lot of uncertainty under the Trump administration. 

In 2025, $1 Billion in previously award REAP grants were frozen for months.

In March of 2026, the USDA announced another suspension of the REAP grant program.

Is the rollback of clean energy initiatives going to affect jobs in my State?

Since the Infrastructure Improvement and Jobs Act was implemented in 2022, $208 billion dollars of private investment, thousands of acres of infrastructure development and hundreds of thousands of private industry jobs were created. But, since the Trump Administration has tried to repeal all unspent IIJA funds, and since the Administration has made its policy against clean energy expansion and development clear, private investors are pulling back and taking hundreds of thousands of those jobs with them.

Where are clean energy projects being cut and jobs and future-jobs being lost? Have a look HERE.

The Department of Energy is a government agency that you hear a lot about and that does have a lot to do with the availability of affordable and reliable energy.  But there are more agencies that help keep our public utilities available:

  • The Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE is responsible for our energy policy. Under this umbrella, the DOE’s goal is to create and maintain a secure, affordable and reliable energy supply. They fund and perform research into energy technologies, manage our nuclear stockpile, are responsible for cleaning up nuclear testing sites, and should lead the way in clean energy development.
  • The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA sets the standards that govern, and limit, contaminants in fundamental resources like drinking water and sets the standards and performs environmental reviews of other utilities, like power plants, that generate pollution while producing energy.
  • The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (DOI). The Bureau of Reclamation manages water supply and hydropower for the western United States. 
  • The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC is responsible for overseeing the development of energy infrastructure, the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas and oil, and regulating the wholesale cost of energy.
  • The Federal Trade Commission (FTC). One of the ways in which the FTC protects consumers and increases consumer choice is with the “Energy Labeling Rule” and “Green Guides” which let consumers know how much energy appliances need to operate, thus letting us know which appliances might be less expensive to own in the long run. 
  • The Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA offered renewable energy grant programs that reimbursed rural farmers and landowners for the installation costs of renewable energy sources which reduce the environmental footprint of farms and provided reliable sources of energy in rural areas.

Combined, these agencies regulate supplies and pricing of clean water, electricity, and oil and gas. Policy, rule and funding changes at these agencies could change the pricing and availability of essential utilities, clean water, and even internet access.

Your Hobbies

Your Family

Sources