Project Overview
The nation’s regulatory, energy efficiency, and bill payment assistance programs designed to help low and moderate income families pay their home energy bills cannot keep up with rising summer fuel costs. These programs were developed primarily to protect families during below freezing temperatures in the winter rather than to help during the summer months.
In 2020, for example, about 85% of energy bill assistance funds provided by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the primary federal program designed to help poor families pay their home energy bills went towards heating assistance, while only 15% of direct program funds went towards cooling assistance. As temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, there is an increased need for a summer cooling program that matches the winter heating effort.
Low income households, particularly those in disadvantaged communities, are especially vulnerable to rising temperatures and more likely to experience extreme heat due to the heat island effect – when a lack of vegetation and an extreme built environment cause temperatures in a particular neighborhood to be higher than in the surrounding area.
The project will address four vital tasks to help vulnerable households adapt to rising temperatures:
- Developing utility regulations for public service commissions to help low income families adapt to rising temperatures,
- Growing low income energy grant strategies to subsidize energy and equipment by state low income energy programs,
- Identifying and supporting the development of new and more energy efficient cooling technology by state energy offices and
- Working with the federal agencies, including LIHEAP program at the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Energy’s weatherization and home energy technology office to develop coordinated strategies to address cooling needs for low income families.
The project will lay the groundwork for states to develop comprehensive cooling assistance programs by providing the necessary research, developing model regulations for the purchase of high efficiency cooling equipment and developing best practices. The project will highlight the urgent need for cooling assistance for low income families especially those that live in disadvantaged communities and are more likely to have lower rates of cooling and are less likely to afford the high cost of cooling. The program’s finding will also be used to help federal and state policy makers develop a framework for funding cooling assistance on an ongoing basis.
Reports & Publications
- Issue Brief: Helping Low-Income Families Adapt to Rising Temperatures – The Role of Weatherization
- Issue Brief: Summer Shutoff Protections and Bill Support Fail to Adapt to a Warming World
- Webinar Series: Public Utility Commissions
- Webinar Series: State and Territory Energy Offices
Advisory Committee
Denise Abdul-Rahman, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Danielle Byrnett – National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
Steve Cowell, E4theFuture
Keith Dennis, Beneficial Electrification League
Michael DiRamio – New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
John Howat, National Consumer Law Center
Mark Jackson – Community Housing Partners
Mark Kresowick – American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Jamal Lewis/Camila Thorndike – Rewiring America
Odogwu Obi Linton, Commissioner, Maryland Public Service Commission
Andrew McCallister – California Energy Commission
Dave Terry, National Association of State Energy Officials
Steve Walls, National Resources Defense Council & Sabrina
Stockton Williams – National Council of State Housing Agencies
Contact
Mark Wolfe: mwolfe@energyprograms.org
Cassandra Lovejoy: clovejoy@energyprograms.org