Wisconsin Democrats introduce bill that would limit utility bills as energy costs rise

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – Democrats have introduced a bill that would limit utility costs for Wisconsin residents. 

One in four Americans struggles to pay their electric bill, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, energy prices have jumped by 40 percent in just the last five years. In Wisconsin, residential energy customers are paying about 30 percent more than they did in 2020. 

That sharp increase in cost forces some families to make hard choices. Jill Sexton lives in Wausau and spoke at a Nov. 10 press conference introducing the new bill.

“I’m in my 60s, and so is my husband. We’ve each raised a couple of kids. He’s on Social Security and I’m on disability. Our house is heated by gas, and we’re on a fixed income, and we’re doing everything we can, yet we still cannot keep up,” Sexton said. “I ended up taking a part-time job specifically to cover the increase in our electric and heating bills. Here’s our reality: each month we choose between paying the electric bill and heat bill or filling our prescriptions. Some months I don’t buy the medication. Some months we stretch food until the very last day.”

Milwaukee resident Maria Beltran reflected on her struggles to keep the power on when her kids were younger. 

“I’m a mother of seven, grandmother of seven. When I was raising my babies, our heat and electric was always shut off. I remember [we] all slept in one bedroom, pallets were made to stay warm,” Beltran said. “My children would say ‘Mommy, I can see my breath,’ making it a contest of who blew the biggest cloud to not think about the cold.”

State Rep. Darrin Madison (D – Milwaukee) introduced a bill that would require Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission to create a program that limits utility costs to two percent of a household’s income. 

“When fully phased in,” Madison explained in a news conference, “the 2% income payment program will be a fully universal and automatic program, making it so that no one ever has to pay more than 2% of their income on utilities again.” The room erupted in applause.

From Nov. 1 to April 15, utility companies cannot shut off an individual’s electricity if they’re behind on payments. That’s been Wisconsin law since 1984. After April 15 passes, however, Wisconsinites will have higher bills to pay, and their power can be shut off. 

The Low Income Heating and Electricity Assistance Program (LIHEAP) distributes federal funding to states to help low-income households afford their utility bills. In April, the Trump administration fired thousands of employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, including all the federal staff of LIHEAP. That puts the future of the program in jeopardy.

Even before employees were fired, only 17 percent of families who qualified for the program received funding. Advocates say enrollment is complicated, and under this bill, the two percent utility cap would be automatic. 

The bill would need Republican support to pass, which is unlikely in the state Legislature.