Energy Burden

Lifting the High Energy Burden in America’s Largest Cities: How Energy Efficiency Can Improve Low Income and Underserved Communities

This report provides a snapshot of energy burdens in cities across the US. It focuses on the high home energy burdens faced by select groups in major metropolitan areas. Years of analysis by the firm of Fisher Sheehan & Colton determined that low-income households pay proportionally more...Read more

The Uneven Gains of Energy Efficiency

This article touches on just about every construct that constitutes energy burden. Using the City of New Orleans as an example of a high energy burden city, it illustrates how a high energy burden contributes to the affordability crisis in American cities. Stein explores how wealth disparity and...Read more

6 Maps That Show How Bad Energy Poverty Is and Reveal 2 Ways to Make it Better

Things that attracted me to this article is the use of the term 'energy burden' and the fact that the maps were created by DOE. I also liked how the author talked about the differences between progressive and regressive policies. I learned some new terms too: split incentive and green lease. Read more

Correlational analysis of energy burden and eviction rate

This research paper is a Master's Thesis by Paichen Li for Duke University's School Environment. The  author sought to identify a link between evictions and utility spending in light of a nationwide eviction and housing affordablity crisis. The study territory was Southern California (Edison)....Read more

Living without power: Health impacts of utility shutoffs in California

This report by TURN discusses all of the impacts created by the problematic policy of shutting utilities off for residential customers. Beyond a discussion on health impacts, the report also considers the already precarious conditions of the communities that experience the highest rates of...Read more

Energy Drain: Low Income Households Typically Pay a Higher Percentage for Utilities

Fragility of income and a high energy burden have as much to do with quality of housing stock as they do with ability to pay bills. In rural and core urban areas, lower income people tend to occupy older homes that have structural deficits and more equipment or system breakdowns and are unable...Read more

Home Energy Affordability for Low-Income Customers in Pennsylvania

This report is published as a collective work product of BCS and the Law Bureau from the Consumer Services Information System (CSIS) Project at Penn State University. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission initiated the study on May 5, 2017, at Docket No. M-2017-2587711. The goal of the...Read more

As Philadelphia works to tackle climate change, a question emerges: Is PGW on board?

With attempts to electrify grids in a sustainable way, many oil and gas furnaces will inevitably be shut down by 2025. The foregoing is a threat for energy supplies for utilities such as PGW, among utilities that opposed updated and thorough building code implementation. The call to transition...Read more

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