Raelynn McMurchy (left) with her husband, Tucker, and daughter, Ella, launched an online petition over high power bills
The charity spends as much as $14,000 a week on emergency assistance. In one case, a $350 emergency payment helped retail worker Ashley Fonseca Mejia keep her electricity connected. Eric Widger, who works at a nearby Kimberly-Clark manufacturing plant, saw his monthly electricity bill double to around $500.
Because you may have to pay 700 USD or 800 USD just to turn it back on, it’s really heartbreaking.
“It is a relief,” Fonseca Mejia said. “Payday for me is Friday, and they were going to cut it off Thursday,” Widger said. Pearson said working families are increasingly being forced to choose between basic needs. “It’s like they’re jugglers and they’ve got all these balls in the air,” Pearson said.
The growing financial pressure has also placed a heavy burden on community organisations that help residents avoid losing power. At the Helping Hand Ministry office, across from First Presbyterian Church in downtown Tulsa, residents line up every Monday and Tuesday morning with notices warning that their electricity will be disconnected. The money comes from local foundations and church donations and is used to help residents delay or prevent power shutoffs. Volunteer John Johnson often contacts PSO’s parent company, American Electric Power, to negotiate partial payments for people facing immediate disconnection. “These bills have been skyrocketing. The problem is not limited to low-income households. Some full-time workers are also struggling to handle sudden increases in their bills. “I have had it cut off before. “Do I pay rent, do I pay the electric bill. Do I feed my family? It’s constant, and it’s never-ending. With hotter weather continuing to push up electricity use across the central United States, residents and consumer groups such as McMurchy are calling for changes to security deposit rules and stronger protections against summer shutoffs.
They want regulators to act before the next period of extreme heat puts more households at risk of losing power.
The bill totalled $1,373, including a $598 security deposit that her power company required after she fell behind on earlier payments. A US Department of Energy review of utility shutoffs in 2024 found that PSO disconnected customers for non-payment at more than five times the national average rate. Rules overseen by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission allow power companies to disconnect customers as long as the heat index stays below 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.3 degrees Celsius). They argue that dangerously hot indoor conditions can develop well before the outdoor heat index reaches 101 degrees.
Because of unpaid bills, in the Tulsa service area, at least 19,000 customers have their electricity shut off each month. Because of the health risks, some states ban utility companies from disconnecting electricity during periods of extreme summer heat. As reported by Scott Horsley for NPR and Ideastream Public Media, electricity prices have risen faster than general inflation, leaving many households facing growing debt and the risk of having their power disconnected.
“I wish every corporation commissioner had to sit in a house that had no electricity when it’s 95,” said Joanne Pearson, president of the Helping Hand Ministry in downtown Tulsa. When Raelynn McMurchy opened her electricity bill this month, the amount was more than twice her family’s monthly rent. Faced with the choice of keeping the electricity on or paying for other basic needs, the Tulsa resident started an online petition calling for changes to the state’s rising energy costs. McMurchy is among a growing number of customers struggling to pay their electricity bills as long periods of extreme summer heat push power use and monthly charges higher across the region. For households already finding it difficult to pay their bills, the risk of losing electricity is a serious concern. Oklahoma does not have the same protection. Consumer groups have repeatedly asked state regulators to lower that limit.