A coalition of public interest, social justice, watchdog and environmental groups are joining forces to hold Duke Energy, the largest investor-owned U.S. electric utility, accountable for its policies, which impact almost 8 million Americans in six states – and by extension, impede the nation’s progress toward a clean energy future.

Governor Eric Holcomb must act now to address the financial cliff that is coming once emergency orders are lifted, specifically the moratorium on utility disconnects. Action is needed to ensure that utility arrearages incurred during the crisis do not trigger mass disconnections by requiring all utility service providers, both regulated and unregulated, to adopt more flexible credit and collections practices than are currently required by state regulations, or in the case of unregulated utilities, their self-governed, internal policies related to credit and collection practices.