News
Search All News
Friday, January 23, 2026
Office Hours
Monday - Friday 9am - 5pmClosed Sat. and Sun.
Lehman’s Jennifer Laird quoted in AP report on winter-storm outages
January 23, 2026
In a new Associated Press report on the threat of winter storms and power outages, Associate Professor of Sociology Jennifer Laird, who studies energy insecurity, helped put the risks in context for vulnerable communities.
Laird pointed to research from 2021’s Winter Storm Uri showing disparities in who lost power and for how long, described how outages can quickly disrupt essentials such as medical equipment and infant care, and warned that higher heating use during a cold snap can lead to steep bills and potential disconnection notices in the weeks that follow.
“There are lots of ways that we’re dependent on energy that we don’t realize until a crisis hits — and then it really exposes those vulnerabilities,” Laird told AP.
Read the article here.