Lights Out: Political and Economic Determinants of Electricity Shutoffs in the United States

Abstract In the United States, state governments play an essential role in balancing the interests of consumers and electricity providers. While scholars have explored how regulations are crafted, less attention has been paid to the impact of regulation, particularly on the disadvantaged. By analyzing data on over two decades of disconnections, we find that investor-owned utilities have significantly lower disconnection rates than municipal utilities, despite the latter’s public-oriented mandate. We contend that the public-facing nature of municipalization makes unpopular redistribution more visible (and hence provided at lower levels) compared with private investor-owned utilities. We also find that having a renewable portfolio standard is associated with lower levels of disconnection, whereas deregulation and the direct election of commissioners have no discernible effect. These findings underscore how subnational policy variations shape essential service provision in the United States and have broad implications for regulation and human capital, given possible federal volatility in electricity policymaking.