If you are involved in climate change or energy advocacy or are just someone who pays energy bills, you may have heard this term used. But what does energy burden actually mean?
Energy burden is measured as a percentage of one’s income, or the amount you spend on your energy bills divided by your household income.
Below are a few resources to learn more about energy burden, how it affects all of us, and what you can do to help.
Rural communities like the Upper Valley have some of the nation’s highest energy costs, and it can be difficult or expensive to find a contractor to make energy upgrades. This is known as the Rural Energy Efficiency Gap. Energy burden is 33% higher in rural communities, which also tend to have lower rates of participation in energy upgrade incentive programs. This leads to inequitable distribution of energy-saving programs. This report from Maine’s Island Institute details barriers to participation and possible solutions to the Rural Energy Efficiency Gap for rural communities in Maine, Alaska, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
In 2019, Efficiency Vermont published a report on how energy burden affects Vermonters, especially of low and moderate-income. The report showed that energy burden in Vermont was about 10% of residents’ annual income or around $5,800 each year. But, the study also showed that in parts of Vermont, energy burden could be as high as 20%. Rather, than focusing on families with the highest energy usage, it’s important to focus on energy burden which is more closely linked to income. Those with lower incomes tend to experience a higher energy burden than those who use more energy.
The average energy burden in New Hampshire is 9.4%. But a study done by VEIC shows that in Coos County in the North Country of New Hampshire, energy burden was 14.3% or $5,730 a year. That’s 33% more than the average. These dollars being spent on energy are largely leaving the state and causing a significant impact on the local New Hampshire economy. VEIC is working as the Value Chain Coordinators to address these value chain gaps in the North County.
There are many programs across the Upper Valley that can ease energy burden, from state benefits to help income-eligible folks pay for their energy bills to rebates on energy-efficient appliances.