This is the third piece in MLK50’s ongoing series about how utility cutoffs impact working-class Memphians. This story was produced as part of Next City’s Local Reporting Hub, with funding from the Kresge Foundation.
Since leaving her job in Memphis’ nonprofit sector last year, Nancy Brownlee has been using her extensive network to crowdfund for friends and strangers alike through Facebook. She says the most common struggle Memphians message her about is utility debt.
“One (woman) that I’m actively trying to raise money for, she’s 79 years old. There are six people who live in her house, and three of them are children,” she told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism in late July. The family was facing a cutoff from MLGW and had nearly $570 in utility debt when they reached out to her for help.
After a series of posts to bring in donations, Brownlee was able to get the family’s balance below its cutoff threshold. But she said it’s a challenge to raise funds when so many Memphians are struggling financially.
“I have to tell myself not to get discouraged about it, because people just don’t have the extra (money to donate),” she said. Over a dozen families have reached out to her for help with their utilities. She estimates that their combined debt totals around $4,000.
The scope of the city’s utility debt burden is reflected in Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division’s own data. Nearly one in five Memphis households experienced at least one utility cutoff in 2025. Memphis has among the highest disconnection rates in the country, according to national data.
But experts like Jonathan Kim, a researcher with the nonprofit Energy and Policy Institute, say it doesn’t have to be this way.
Municipalities across the U.S. have adopted a variety of tactics to help residents avoid utility cutoffs while also benefiting utility providers. They include reducing fines and fees, offering payment plans with extended deadlines, creating discount programs for marginalized groups and even calculating utility bills as a portion of household income.
“They’ve decided that disconnection is no longer an appropriate tool to try and coerce low-income families to cough up money,” Kim said. “There are proven ways to recoup customer (debts) that don’t involve disconnection.”
Reducing rates and fees could increase repayment
There is currently no way to bypass MLGW’s fees or access lower prices for utility services. But these tactics have reduced utility cutoff rates elsewhere in the U.S., and can even increase customers’ rate of bill payment.
MLGW’s current fees include $30 for returned checks, $58 to reconnect services after a cutoff, and a 5% late fee on bills not paid within 12 business days. Kim explained that eliminating some of these fees could actually enable MLGW to recoup more money.
“You want to make these payments reasonable so that low-income families are able to meet them without having to scale back spending on food and medicine and other necessities,” he said. “Eliminating junk fees is counterintuitive because you’re asking (customers) for less money, but that can be a method to lower the hurdle and get folks to pay into their uncollected debts.”
Research shows that creating discounted rate programs can have a similar effect. MLGW recently released a study stating that its rates for utility service are the lowest in Tennessee. But selectively lowering rates for vulnerable groups, like seniors and low-income families, can both reduce cutoffs and help prevent everyone else’s bills from going up.
“The ultimate goal of utilities … is to avoid bills becoming uncollectible,” Kim said. “If (utility companies) are not able to collect money from certain subsects of their ratepayers, then the money’s got to come from somewhere, and that’s a burden that lands on other customers.”
Discounted rate programs for those least able to pay have already been adopted in at least 10 states, including New York, Indiana and California. The nonprofit, clean-energy think tank RMI has found that these programs benefit all customers, not just those struggling to pay their bills.
“Evidence from multiple state programs shows that when (utility) commissions adopt affordability policies, they support vulnerable customers, reduce system-wide debt, improve payment behavior, and lower collection costs,” RMI researchers Carina Rosenbach and Joe Daniel wrote in an October 2025 analysis.
Assistance over punishment
The most effective approaches to reducing utility cutoffs typically involve working with customers who are struggling to pay their bills, instead of punishing them for their failure to do so. In one of the nation’s largest cities, this has meant ending disconnections for vulnerable customers, even if they fall behind on payments.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power adopted a motion in 2022 that ended utility cutoffs for customers enrolled in its low-income and senior discount programs. Since then, disconnections have plummeted: In 2025, the utility performed just 4,133 water disconnections in the entire city, where it provides water to over 740,000 households.
There’s currently no indication that MLGW plans to adjust its cutoff policies.
Without significant policy change in sight, Brownlee is taking matters into her own hands. She’s raising funds for a new project called the Dream at Home Foundation, which would provide direct cash assistance to help families pay their bills.
“It’s like, ‘I put it in God’s hands,'” Brownlee said. “Memphis is a praying city. (But) sometimes you can’t put it in God’s hands. You’ve got to act.”
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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