Three-part blog series by Spring 2025 Energy & Climate Intern Ava Ambroggio
An energy burden is the portion of a household’s annual income spent on home energy costs.
Housing and energy experts recommend that households spend no more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs, with no more than 6 percent dedicated to energy expenses. For example, a household with a $75,000 annual income should spend no more than $4,500 on energy. A burden of 6 percent is considered high, and anything above 10 percent is classified as severe.
Low-income households are significantly vulnerable to severe energy burdens.
They often experience much higher energy use intensity, meaning they consume more energy per square foot, due to the inefficiency of their homes.
When energy costs consume a disproportionate share of income, families may be forced to make sacrifices that jeopardize their health and well-being. In some cases, this leads to dangerous strategies such as heating homes with ovens or going without cooling in extreme heat in the summer. Chronic energy insecurity can also contribute to housing instability, financial stress, and health conditions such as respiratory problems, hypothermia, and low sleep quality.
Comprehensive weatherization and major appliance upgrades offer great energy savings, such as replacing old heating systems with high-efficiency heat pumps or upgrading to energy-efficient water heaters. Switching to LED lighting, installing weather stripping, and sealing air leaks are simpler measures that can result in smaller energy savings. These upgrades not only cut costs but also improve the quality of life within a household.
Energy burden pt. 2: How are utilities involved?
Energy burden pt. 3: Where do we go from here?
Sources:
- Brown, M. A., Soni, A., Lapsa, M. V., Southworth, K., & Cox, M. (2020). High energy Burden and Low-income Energy Affordability: Conclusions from a literature review. Progress in Energy, 2(4), 042003. https://doi.org/10.1088/2516-1083/abb954
- Hernández, D., & Bird, S. (2010). Energy burden and the need for integrated Low‐Income Housing and energy policy. Poverty & Public Policy, 2(4), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.2202/1944-2858.1095
- Scheier, E., & Kittner, N. (2022). A measurement strategy to address disparities across household energy burdens. Nature Communications, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27673-y