New York • One in five U.S. households went without food, medicine or other necessities to pay their electricity or gas bills.
The Energy Information Administration said Wednesday nearly a third of households had trouble paying their energy bills. The group says the problem is mainly impacting racial minorities and low-income households with children.
At the same time that people were reporting these problems, overall energy-related spending was at its lowest point in more than a decade.
Tracey Capers of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation says it's not surprising because communities of color face the highest burdens.