This is the first piece in MLK50’s ongoing series on how utility cutoffs impact working-class Memphians.
Nearly one in five Memphis households experienced at least one utility cutoff for nonpayment in 2025, according to data obtained by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism through a public records request. Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division is a nationwide leader in utility cutoffs, with household disconnections rising by nearly 40% over the last decade.
According to MLGW, 75,378 households in Memphis experienced at least one utility disconnection for nonpayment last year. As of December 31, the company served 379,420 households. That’s a household cutoff rate of 19.9%.
“That is not a normal number,” said Jonathan Kim, a researcher with the nonprofit Energy and Policy Institute, which monitors the business decisions of fossil fuel and utility companies nationwide. “That is a lot.”
Utility cutoffs have well-documented health and safety impacts on low-income families, including increased risks of hunger from cutting back on food to pay bills, heatstroke from lack of air conditioning and house fires from the candles, cookstoves and extension cords families rely on to meet their basic needs.
In an emailed response to questions, MLGW spokesperson Stacey Greenberg called disconnection “a last resort,” adding, “we work with our customers when they struggle to make utility payments.”
Memphis among top cities nationwide for utility cutoffs
Last year wasn’t an anomaly: A first-of-its-kind report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released in April also identifies Memphis as a nationwide leader in utility cutoffs.
“Of municipal utilities, Memphis had the most disconnections of any in the country in 2024,” Kim said of the report’s findings. That’s not including cities served by privately-owned utility companies, but Kim’s organization has found that public utilities like MLGW cut off customers at a higher rate than those for-profit giants.
Data from the national report shows that MLGW alone performed more electricity cutoffs in 2024 than every utility company in the state of New York combined. The most cutoffs occurred in the summer and early fall months, when air conditioning sends electricity bills soaring.
MLGW recently released a study stating that its rates for utility service are the lowest in Tennessee. But Greenberg pointed to the city’s high poverty level as one reason why its cutoff rates are higher than in many other cities.
“A low-cost utility can still experience high disconnection rates if many customers face financial hardship,” she wrote. “Even relatively low bills can become unaffordable for families with limited financial resources.”
Both Kim and Greenberg stated that the city’s high cutoff rate is due in part to systemic issues, like Memphis’ high levels of poverty, its aging housing stock and the energy burden caused by its extremely hot summers.
But the way MLGW operates, including how it performs cutoffs, also impacts how many households get disconnected — and which communities are hit the hardest.
Utility cutoffs are on the rise
MLGW’s own policies and practices may play a role in its high cutoff numbers. The company gives customers only 12 business days to pay their bills before they start accruing late fees and receiving shutoff notices.
And while it helps to distribute some assistance money, many of the company’s internal programs that prevent cutoffs — like its winter shutoff moratorium and its holiday bill break program — are only available to customers who are already in good financial standing.
MLGW’s data shows that utility cutoffs in Memphis have been on the rise over the past 10 years, including in some years when the city’s population decreased. Between 2016 and 2025, the number of Memphis households that experienced at least one shutoff rose by 37.7%.
The company said this trend is due to a combination of factors, including the rising cost of living, the end of pandemic-era emergency funding and new technology making cutoffs more efficient.
“Smart meters and automated systems allow utilities to reconnect and disconnect service more efficiently than in the past,” Greenberg wrote in an emailed response to questions. “While this improves operational efficiency, it can also increase the number of disconnections completed when accounts become eligible.”
Memphis’ numbers likely mirror a nationwide rise in cutoffs, Kim said. Being a majority-Black city can also help explain its high cutoff rate.
“There’s ample research at this point showing that race is very strongly associated with disconnection outcomes, even when controlling for things like income and housing characteristics and energy costs,” Kim said. “Racial inequity, and the Blackness of Memphis, could itself be a factor.”
Has MLGW cut off your lights, water or gas? MLK50 wants to hear your story — even if you choose to remain anonymous. Contact the author of this piece by emailing natalie.wallington@mlk50.com, calling or texting 901-633-4598, or reaching out securely to @nataliew.901 on Signal.
Natalie Wallington is the housing reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email her at natalie.wallington@mlk50.com.
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