Full Title: The Clean Power Plan’s Economic Impact by Income Group and Local Area
Author(s): Wayne Winegarden & Alexander Specht
Publisher(s): Pacific Research Institute
Publication Date: November 1, 2016
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
This new study by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) estimates, low-income communities nationwide could face higher electricity bills under the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan. In many states, the poorest households could see their electric power costs rise to equal or greater than 10 percent of their household income.
The press release announcing the study’s release quotes its author, Wayne Winegarden, Ph.D., PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics, saying “Poor communities will be hit hard by the Clean Power Plan. Working-class neighborhoods across the nation could see rising power costs if the Obama Administration’s plan is implemented. I hope that America’s next President will review our findings very carefully when charting our country’s energy future, and pursue free-market policies that will alleviate the problem of energy poverty.”
Electricity expenditures of low income households are already higher as a percentage of incomes than in wealthier households, but under the Clean Power Plan, energy poverty will increase.
The study estimates, the Southeast will be the region most negatively-impacted by the Clean Power Plan with families in South Carolina experiencing average annual electricity expenditures topping $2,195, while Georgia families could see costs of $2,159 and Virginia families could see costs of $1,998. People under 25 and over 65 will bear the brunt of the higher electricity prices under the Clean Power Plan.