Report: Providence fifth-highest energy burden for low-income households in U.S.

PROVIDENCE has one of the highest energy burdens for low-income households in the nation, according to a new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. / COURTESY AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY
PROVIDENCE has one of the highest energy burdens for low-income households in the nation, according to a new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. / COURTESY AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY

PROVIDENCE – Providence has the fifth-highest energy burden for low-income households among 48 major U.S. metropolitan areas, according to a report released this week by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Energy Efficiency for All coalition.

And, Providence was behind only Memphis for the number of Latino households nationwide experiencing the greatest energy burdens.

The report, “Lifting the High Energy Burdens in America’s Largest Cities: How Energy Efficiency Can Improve Low-Income and Underserved Communities,” said that on average, low-income households pay 7.2 percent of household income on utilities – more than three times the amount that higher income households pay.

Energy burdens were found to be greatest for low-income households in the following 10 major cities: Memphis, Tenn., (13.2 percent of income); Birmingham, Ala., (10.9 percent); Atlanta (10.2 percent); New Orleans (9.8 percent); Providence (9.5 percent); Pittsburgh (9.4 percent); Dallas (8.8 percent); Philadelphia (8.8 percent); Kansas City (8.5 percent); and Cleveland (8.5 percent).

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The review found that low-income households spend up to three times as much income on energy costs compared with higher-income households.

It also found that African-American and Latino households spend disproportionate amounts of their income on energy, and more energy efficiency measures would help close the gap by at least one-third.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Voces Verdes also participated with ACEEE and EEFA in the release of the report.

The report suggests that if low-income housing stock were brought up to the efficiency level of the average U.S. home, 35 percent of the average low-income energy burden of low-income households would be eliminated.

San Francisco, at 1.4 percent, has the lowest median energy burden.

“We found that the overwhelming majority of low-income and households of color in major U.S. cities experienced higher energy burdens when compared to the average household in the same city. Families who face higher energy burdens experience many negative long-term effects on their health and well-being. These families are at greater risk for respiratory diseases and increased stress, and they can experience increased economic hardship and difficulty in moving out of poverty,” Ariel Drehobl, research analyst and lead report author, ACEEE, said in a statement.

Khalil Shahyd, representative, Energy Efficiency for All coalition, said that increasing energy efficiency investments can help improve energy affordability “for all of America’s households, renters and owners alike.”

“This is especially critical for low-income renters whose energy burdens are more than three times higher,” Shahyd said.

Report data is based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011 and 2013 American Housing Survey to determine energy burden values. Low-income households are defined as those with incomes at or below 80 percent of area median income.

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