Full Title: Recommendations for Cities and States to Improve Equity Evaluation and Reporting in Energy Efficiency Programming
Author(s): Bryndis Woods, Elizabeth A. Stanton, Sagal Alisalad
Publisher(s): Applied Economics Clinic
Publication Date: October 21, 2021
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
On behalf of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), this Applied Economics Clinic white paper recommends measures that cities and states can undertake to facilitate equitable energy efficiency evaluation and reporting of energy efficiency efforts, based on the results of our review of low-income energy efficiency efforts in ACEEE’s top-scoring cities and states in their 2020 City and State energy efficiency scorecards.
We find that the cities and states most highly-rated for energy efficiency offer programs for low-income community members, but fail to take critical actions necessary for equitable evaluation and reporting to facilitate equitable outcomes. Based on our review of these programs, we find that—while these programs have made important progress on addressing equity concerns by offering efficiency programming specifically to low-income households—more robust energy efficiency evaluation and reporting are needed to shine a light on city and state equity-focused energy efficiency programming and ensure that efficiency benefits are equitably distributed.