Speaker: Diana Hernández, associate professor of sociolmedical sciences at Columbia University.

Powerless: The Hidden Hardship of Energy Insecurity in America

Description:

Energy serves as the lifeblood of our daily experiences. It permeates virtually every aspect of our existence, facilitating nourishment, safety, and productivity. When affordability threatens energy’s availability, a family’s living situation can become untenable—too cold, too hot, too dark, and too often, unhealthy and unsafe. In Powerless, sociologists Diana Hernández and Jennifer Laird reveal the hidden hardship of “energy insecurity” – the inability to adequately meet household energy needs.

Approximately one in ten households in the U.S. are energy insecure and four in ten are at risk for energy insecurity. These statistics alone do not convey the acute pain of utility shutoffs, or the relentless toll of chronic energy hardships marked by difficult choices and harsh living conditions. Drawing on survey data and interviews with one hundred energy-insecure individuals and families, Hernández and Laird detail the experience of energy insecurity. Individuals and families suffering from energy insecurity endure economic hardships, such as difficulty paying utility bills, utility debt, and disconnection from utility services. They also struggle with physical challenges, such as poor housing conditions and poor or dysfunctional heating and cooling systems. They are often forced to make difficult choices about what bills to pay. These decisions are sometimes referred to as “heat or eat?” choices, as families cannot afford to pay for heating and food at the same time. Energy insecure individuals and families employ a variety of strategies to keep energy costs down to avoid having to make these hard choices. This includes deliberate underconsumption of energy, enduring physical discomfort, and using dangerous alternatives such as open flames, ovens, or space heaters to try to maintain a comfortable temperature in their home. To be energy insecure is to suffer. Despite the heavy toll of energy insecurity, most people confront these difficulties behind closed doors, believing it is a private matter. Thus, the enormous social crisis of energy insecurity goes unnoticed.

Bio:

Diana Hernández, Climate Justice Fellow '26 at Harvard's Radcliffe-Salata Institutes and associate professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University, is a pioneering sociologist who has advanced the concept of energy insecurity through innovative mixed-methods research, community partnerships, and policy interventions. She is the lead author of Powerless: The People’s Struggle for Energy (Russell Sage, 2025), the first and most prominent book on energy insecurity in the US. Current projects include the Cities Uniting to Reduce Energy Insecurity (CUREi) initiative, statewide measurement of energy inequities in New York, and clinical collaborations linking energy insecurity screening with various health outcomes.