Immigrant households hiding from ICE face steep power bills

Many households put off large power bills in the winter due to Minnesota’s cold weather rule, which limits utility companies’ ability to cut service during the winter months. But most people don’t understand the rule completely, Levanson-Falk said. Customers must set up a payment plan with their utility provider ahead of time to avoid having power shut off. 

But calling to set up that payment plan can be intimidating, and people may not know how to advocate for themselves, Levanson-Falk said. Companies will try to get customers to commit to the largest possible payments, and many aren’t prepared to negotiate. 

“People are not real eager to call a big corporation and say, ‘I’m sheltering in place because of ICE,’” Levanson-Falk said.  

This winter, the Citizens Utility Board started getting calls from groups that work with immigrants who said many were struggling with their energy bills. They banded together with the Energy CENTS Coalition, a fellow nonprofit, to raise money to help immigrant households. The groups raised more than $38,000 from small donations, and gathered more than $70,000 total that went to helping roughly 200 households.  

Madi Johnson, an environmental justice organizer with the Latino advocacy group Unidos MN, was part of a campaign asking the state for a moratorium on power shutoffs in response to Operation Metro Surge. 

Misunderstandings about the cold weather rule are pervasive, Johnson said, which can lead to a false sense of security. 

“People think they’re protected already, and people don’t understand that they might get kicked off, so rent is what they worry about,” Johnson said.  

Xcel Energy, the primary electricity provider in the Twin Cities, told Sahan Journal the company went beyond the typical cold weather rule and suspended disconnections through the month of February. Disconnections for Xcel Customers were 87% lower this February compared to February 2025. The company said they provided extra training for call center staff to facilitate more flexible payment plans for customers during the surge. 

Xcel also worked with the Citizens Utility Board and the Energy CENTS Coalition to facilitate payments using money the groups fundraised for immigrant households, applying credits from $250 to $500 to accounts, according to a spokesperson. 

Xcel said they worked to spread word about the shutoff moratorium through community groups. Unidos didn’t learn about the February moratorium until Feb. 20, Johnson said.

CenterPoint Energy said in a statement that the company is committed to helping customers manage their bills year round, and will work with customers in multiple languages to direct them toward payment assistance plans 

Difficulty accessing energy assistance 

The primary source of financial relief for people facing high utility bills is the federal energy assistance program. But the program requires at least one household member to be a U.S. citizen.

Michael Schmitz, director of energy assistance programs for the Minnesota Department of Commerce, told the state’s Public Utilities Commission in March that it’s hard to measure the impact of Operation Metro Surge on energy assistance applications. 

“It’s a little tricky how we are supposed to serve households who are undocumented,” Schmitz said. “I do think it’s possible that people who do have that mixed status did not want to send in information about their household to a federally funded program.”

The federal energy assistance program is administered by states, often through local Community Action Partnership agencies. Some of those agencies told the commerce department that immigrant families were trying to withdraw applications amidst the ICE surge, Schmitz said. Local agencies work to find ways to get families qualified, but with all the employment records and biographical information required for the applications, immigrants can be wary, especially now. 

Maria’s family looked at applying for energy assistance, but when her husband went to talk with Hennepin County Community Action Partnership, her family was alarmed by the quantity of information requested. 

“They asked for a lot of information — too much,” Maria said. 

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