All of us working on utility law, policy, and operation can choose to change our work in order to create opportunities for collaboration with more progressive social movements not fewer. To that end, I want to offer a reparative definition for utility justice inspired by the thinking of Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò.

With movement support, this curriculum has been taught in person with nearly 100 activists and organizers across the country. We previewed the curriculum back in May with environmental and economic justice organizers in Detroit, and this fall they rolled out their own version in a community-facing series. Other organizers produced a podcast episode with their take on the history after we worked through the curriculum together in May.

Spanning utility history, economic theory, analysis of structural racism, and practical guides to organizing for utility justice going forward, this reading list is a deeper introduction for anyone using the People’s Utility Commons curriculum or anyone who wants to learn more about utility justice in a reading group.

Utility shutoffs are a blunt tool that benefits utilities more than people. Creating new standards for counting them isn’t necessary and could potentially produce more harm than good. Our time will be better spent to try to ban them permanently and immediately.