New Energy Burden Calculator Highlights Unaffordable Burden for Home Energy Bills  

High Energy Burden Disproportionately Impacts Black and Low-Income Communities   

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Sierra Club launched a first of its kind tool that allows individuals to calculate their household energy burden. The calculator is available in both desktop and mobile versions. 

Energy burden is the percentage of a family’s income that is spent on energy bills each year, an often under-reported symptom of racial and economic inequities. The average national household energy burden for low-income households is 8.6%, while for non-low-income households it is only 3%.  Six percent of income is considered the maximum affordable amount for energy bills. The leading causes of energy burden are inefficient homes and appliances tied to underinvestment and lack of resources to maintain and upgrade housing stock. High energy burdens can threaten a household’s ability to pay for energy, forcing tough choices between paying energy bills and buying food, medicine, or other essentials. 

Energy burden disproportionately impacts Black and Brown people and directly links with other issues including inefficient and/or unsafe homes, high eviction rates, and negative health outcomes, all of which can be tied to historic redlining practices that compound burdens on communities of color. Addressing those inequities drastically improves energy efficiency, making it one of the most effective ways to combat climate change; another crisis that disproportionately impacts Black and Brown communities.

“At its core, reducing energy burden is about justice: it prioritizes the needs of folks who society has ignored throughout history. Your zip code shouldn’t be the determining factor in how much you pay for power, yet the most energy burdened communities are often the same communities who experienced racist redlining,” Sharonda Williams-Tack, Associate Director of the Sierra Club Energy Justice Campaign, said. “Education is the first step in creating policies that address these historical injustices, and this calculator provides a powerful tool for advocacy. Many people do not understand why their energy bills are so high and why it accounts for such a large part of their budget, but they accept it as a part of their circumstances.  By using this calculator people are able to see that what they are experiencing is energy burden and that their burden is higher compared to other families in their state.  We hope that people will realize that what they are experiencing is not normal and that there are resources out there to help them reduce their energy bills and high home energy burdens.”  

High energy bills are only one part of the problem. Due to income constraints, many families do not have access to the funds or credit needed to make major home safety repairs. Issues such as leaky roofs, faulty ductwork and mold infestation all prevent basic energy saving measures from being installed. 

Housing stock in the United States is scarce and aging, which leads to a cascade of negative impacts for communities. Renters experience even more disproportionate energy burdens because they have less choice in house improvements and often are unable to access governmental energy efficiency incentives. 

The most energy burdened cities in the US are:

1. Birmingham, AL (Average energy burden for majority black census tracts is 6.20% and 4.00% for all census tracts)
2. Atlanta, Georgia (Average energy burden for majority black census tracts is 4.20% and 3.00% for all census tracts)
3. Memphis, TN (Average energy burden for majority black census  tracts is 4.80% and 3.50% for all census tracts)
4. New Orleans, LA (Average energy burden for majority black census tracts is 4.80% and 4.00% for all census tracts)
5. Dallas, TX (Average energy burden for majority black census tracts is 4.50% and 3.20% for all census tracts