(Bloomberg) -- US utility shutoffs of power and natural gas surged last year as home energy costs soared and customers struggled to pay their bills, according to a report from environmental and clean energy advocates.  

Power providers cut off electricity because of unpaid bills more than 1.5 million times last year through October in the 30 states and Washington where figures are reported, according to a study released Monday from Center For Biological Diversity, Energy and Policy Institute and BailoutWatch. That was up 29% from the same period in 2021, and gas disconnections climbed 76%.

The increase came as US consumers, already grappling with high inflation, paid on average 14% more for electricity and 19% more for natural gas in 2022 as energy costs rose in part due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Rising utility bills are turning an essential service into one that’s becoming increasingly unaffordable for lower-income families, with one in six US households falling behind on their utility bills, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association. 

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“Families already reeling from inflation, the pandemic and climate disasters shouldn’t also have to face skyrocketing utility bills beyond their ability to pay,” said Selah Goodson Bell, a campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity’s energy justice program.

The shutoff picture is incomplete because 20 states don’t require utilities to disclose service disconnections. Based on the available data, the groups estimate that there were about 4.2 million shutoffs nationwide in the first 10 months of 2022. 

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