EPA Unveils Plan to Bring Clean Energy to Low-Income Homes

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Low-income families that are fortunate enough to find affordable housing, thus alleviating a potential financial and mental and physical stresses that can lead to long-term health problems. However, finding and maintaining a home is only part of the overall bigger picture. Energy costs also take up large amounts of low-income families’ expenses. A new plan from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could save low-income Latino families as much as $300 annually on utility bills.

According to recent information from the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), families living in affordable housing tend to spend 30% of their overall income on housing costs. Latino families confront a variety of challenges when seeking out and gaining affordable housing, including discrimination, rising costs, limited access to housing education and counseling, and inadequate supply and access to assisted housing stock and programs. According to the NRDC, low-income families fortunate to find affordable housing pay more for energy than those with higher incomes.

A study from Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA) and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) found that the median low-income household’s energy burden was more than twice as high as the average household and three times greater than higher income households. Higher energy burdens experienced by many households can lead to long-term negative effects “on their health and psychological and physical well-being.”

In order to reduce health disparities, it is critical to address inequities in programs, practices, and policies. Join our site, connect with others, and get involved.

Higher energy costs can leave families at greater risks for respiratory diseases, increased stress, and other stress-related issues driven by economic hardships and increased difficulty in moving away from poverty. Earlier this year, the EPA proposed a rule for the Clean Energy Incentive Program (CEIP)

The CEIP is designed to encourage early investment in energy efficiency and renewables by offering double the valuable emission allowances or emission rate credits (ERCs) for energy saved or renewable power produced in low-income communities in the two years before the CPP takes effect in 2022.

The CEIP includes “low income” eligible projects now encompassing solar as well as energy efficiency. The EPA, as part of the new plan, proposes four federal low-income standards—New Market Tax Credits, HUD-Qualified Census Tracts, Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) Income Guidelines, and Federal Poverty Level Guidelines. Solar projects implemented to serve low-income communities that provide direct electricity bill benefits to low-income community ratepayers are now eligible under the CEIPs low-income projects.