Adam’s home sits nestled into the hills of rural Eastern Kentucky, where generations of his family have lived and worked—many in the coal industry. “My brother lives below me. My sister’s my neighbor. My dad lives above us,” he says. Coal mining was once “everything” here. “When it was booming, this area did well,” Adam says. “There were improvements. You could afford anything.”

But that prosperity didn’t last. “Then it went bust, and there’s nothing here,” he adds. “Everything just started shutting down, little by little.”

And then came the flood.

A Once-in-a-Century Flood—Then Another, and Another

A historic flood upended Adam’s world. “We’re still recovering from it,” he says. “It was supposed to be a once-in-a-century flood… but we’ve had three floods since then.” What used to feel like a rare disaster now feels like an annual threat. “Every time it rains, you worry about it.”

The original flood didn’t just damage their home—it fundamentally changed how they live. “It destroyed the underneath of our house,” he says. “And now it isn’t as efficient as it once was when it comes to keeping it warm in the winter or cool in the summer.” Without proper insulation or structure, Adam has seen energy costs soar. “The underpin is washed out. That helps keep your house at a constant temperature. Without it, your electric bills go up and down. I don’t mind bundling up and putting more clothes on in the winter but you can only take so many off in the summer. Heat has a real weight to it.” That kind of burden isn’t unique. Rural members in SaverLife’s national research reported significantly higher increases in expenses after experiencing climate disasters with nearly 70% saying they faced higher costs, compared to just 53% of members who do not live in rural areas.

To make things worse, the area wasn’t considered a flood plain until after the disaster. “We didn’t have flood insurance,” Adam says. “We couldn’t afford it. Now it’s a flood zone, but the damage is already done.”

Fixed Income, Rising Costs

For Adam, and for many of his neighbors, keeping up with bills is a constant juggling act. “Ours more than doubled in the last three years,” he says of his electric bill. “There’s an old man down below us—he draws $800 a month in Social Security. His electric bill was $900.” Adam isn’t alone. In a recent SaverLife survey, over half of rural members said it was ‘somewhat difficult’ to pay their energy bills, significantly more than their non-rural counterparts. Even more telling: only 14% of rural members said it wasn’t difficult at all, compared to nearly a third of non-rural members.

The numbers don’t add up. “That math doesn’t math,” Adam says with a laugh, echoing a phrase he’s heard from SaverLife. The only thing keeping that neighbor afloat was a local senior program, supported by community members who pooled their money to help cover the cost. They made sure he had the information and support needed to access it. “That’s something I’m proud of,” Adam says. “We take care of each other here. You see that a lot—and part of it’s just survival.”

**In Adam’s eyes, the middle has vanished.**
“They aren’t really ‘doing okay’ anymore,” he says. “Even the ones that look like they’re doing good—they’re just one unexpected bill away from being in the same boat.”

Adam’s own family makes ends meet through side gigs and the support of relatives. “Thank God my car’s paid off,” he says. “If it wasn’t, we’d be in a really, really tough place. We are anyway—but it’d be worse.”

His wife picks up what work she can. “House cleaning and odd jobs help to a point,” Adam explains. “But it’s never enough.” Like many in his community, they’re in a constant hustle for extra income. “You can make a little here and there, maybe once a week—but the people you work for are just as strapped as you are.”

It’s not just the unemployed or the elderly who are feeling squeezed. In Adam’s eyes, the middle has vanished. “They aren’t really ‘doing okay’ anymore,” he says. “Even the ones that look like they’re doing good—they’re just one unexpected bill away from being in the same boat.”

And that shared hardship is reshaping how his community survives. It means pulling together when someone’s bill is too high. It means making do with old appliances and drafty homes. It means passing on upgrades—like more solar panels or energy-efficient heating—because even though they’d help long-term, the short-term cost is too much.

“You just get by,” Adam says. “And you hope things don’t get worse.”

Programs Exist—but Not Everyone Can Access Them

There are resources to help, but they’re not easy to find or navigate—especially for older residents. “A lot of people don’t know how to use the technology,” Adam explains. “Especially the older citizens. They get on Facebook, see who’s saying what, and that’s it.”

Local organizations like LKLP, (which administers LIHEAP and other support programs at the local level) posts information online and at community centers, but it’s still up to individuals to track it down. “You gotta go out and get all the information. It’s not broadcast as much. You have to know to go looking.” Additionally, it might be harder to access support programs depending on which region of the country someone lives in. SaverLife’s research shows that in comparison to other regions of the country, members in southern states like Ketucky are much more likely to say they do not receive LIHEAP benefits and also more likely to be turned down after applying to LIHEAP.

Adam has figured it out through trial and error. “Once you do it the first time, it’s easier,” he says. “But you still need to be able to get online, print off your bill, and bring in documentation. If you don’t know where to look or what to do, you won’t know it’s there.”

That gap in access means the people who need help the most are often the last to hear about it.

Embracing Clean Energy—Bit by Bit

Despite his deep roots in the coal industry, Adam is increasingly drawn to clean energy. “Actually, I like it myself,” he says. “I think it’s shown improvements and opportunities for me and my family.” Across rural America, interest in clean energy is high. SaverLife’s research shows that interest in solar panels, energy-efficient home upgrades, and community wind programs was equally high among rural and non-rural members.

He recently bought a small solar panel system that powers basic needs. “It’s a start,” he says. “Just enough to charge a car battery, run some small stuff. But when the power goes out, it comes in handy.”

His openness to solar energy didn’t come overnight—it came from paying attention, asking questions, and staying curious. “Technology opens up new ways of thinking,” he explains. “If you see it more, and you see it working for others, you start saying, ‘Well, maybe.’ Then you’re like, ‘Yeah, probably. It could definitely work.’”

He’s seen that firsthand in his own community—especially in areas where people have built homes on land that was once mined through surface (or strip) mining. “There’s people who used to work in coal—they live on old strip jobs now,” Adam says. “It’s land where the coal’s already been pulled out, and nobody built it back up. It’s remote. You can’t afford to get electric lines run out there. So they just run their whole place on solar.”

It’s an inventive workaround, but it’s not an option for everyone. “We live in a bunch of trees,” Adam says. “We only get two or three hours of direct sunlight. So it’d cost a lot more just to get the same amount of power.” And moving to a better location for solar just isn’t realistic. “We don’t have a mortgage. I can’t see us moving anywhere else.”

A Hope for Consistency—and Opportunity

What Adam wants more than anything—for himself, his neighbors, his kids—is consistency. “You can’t keep going boom and bust all the time,” he says. “There needs to be some consistency. If that’s solar farms or windmills, and people working them—great. It just has to be something steady.”

He’s thinking about his children’s future. “I got one going into kindergarten and one going into high school,” he says. “I’d like to see it be consistent from the time my daughter gets there to the time my son gets there.”

To Adam, clean energy isn’t just about the environment—it’s about stability. “You got underground miners making $35 an hour—but only for three months. Then they’re making nothing,” he says. “I’d rather see someone make $20 an hour all year long.”

Programs. Technology. Weather. Energy. Jobs. In Adam’s world, they’re all connected. “That flood, it changed everything,” he says. “But maybe it also got us thinking differently.”

(Survey data were collected by SaverLife in April 2025 from over 1,300 of its member panelists, 130 of whom live in rural areas. Member panelists are SaverLife members who have agreed to participate in SaverLife research and were paid an incentive for their time to participate in this survey.)

We extend out gratitude to the Wells Fargo Foundation for their generous philanthropic support, which has made it possible for this story to be shared.

Learn more

Adam’s story is part of The Downpour, SaverLife’s climate research initiative exploring how climate change affects the financial lives of low- and moderate-income households. In 2024, we shared reports, webinars, and powerful member stories revealing the growing toll of climate-driven disasters.

Now, we’re turning our focus to the rising burden of household energy costs. Our member surveys and interviews tell a clear story: for many families, energy bills aren’t just high—they’re a crisis. Over a third of SaverLife members struggle to pay utility bills, and many are forced to make impossible trade-offs: cutting back on food, delaying medical care, or going into debt just to keep the lights on.

To get updates as they are released, sign up for our newsletter or reach out with questions (research@saverlife.org)

“The Flood Changed Everything”: Adam’s Fight for Stability in a Changing Kentucky