All of us working on utility law, policy, and operation can change our work in order to create opportunities for collaboration with more progressive social movements not fewer. I want to offer a reparative definition for utility justice inspired by Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò.
Any queer person who works on climate and energy issues—utility issues, especially—in a technical capacity of any kind is a marvel. A statistical miracle. On my first day working on utility policy, I quickly noticed that I didn't have any openly LGBTQ colleagues.
Spanning utility history, economic theory, analysis of structural racism, and practical guides to organizing for justice going forward, this reading list is a deeper introduction for anyone using the People's Utility curriculum or wanting to learn more about utility justice in a reading group.
With more than one-quarter of all U.S. households experiencing energy insecurity, the requirement of private utilities to produce competitive profits is fundamentally opposed to the equally urgent tasks of resisting energy apartheid while greening our buildings and the power sector.
