Affordability and Energy Equity

Household energy bills are a significant recurring cost for families, particularly for low-income households. Surging electricity demand, driven by data centers and new industrial facilities, is putting upward pressure on costs. The electrification of buildings and transportation adds to this load growth, but done right, it’s also an opportunity: well-designed efficiency programs and grid investment can lower costs for everyone, especially households already stretched thin by high energy bills. Efficiency can address this pressure, but only if policies and state and utility programs are designed to deliver those savings broadly, fairly, and targeted to those who need them most.

Communities that have received limited investment in housing, infrastructure, and public services, including low-income households, Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color, renters, older adults, and people with disabilities, have long had limited access to energy efficiency services and their benefits. Systemic exclusions, from inequitable financing practices to persistently poor housing quality, have concentrated energy burdens in the communities with the fewest resources to address them. Energy equity means designing policies and programs with meaningful community input and ongoing accountability, and actively reducing—not reinforcing—social, environmental, and economic inequities.

One in four low-income households in the United States carries an energy cost burden above 15% of their income—a threshold so extreme it forces impossible choices: heat or eat, pay the bill or fill the prescription. Load growth and grid investment without a strong demand-side strategy means higher rates for everyone, with the heaviest consequences falling on those already stretched thin. Without deliberate, equity-centered design, energy transitions risk further leaving disinvested communities behind, repeating historical patterns at a larger scale.

ACEEE advances energy affordability and equity through a combination of data-driven research, policy engagement, and hands-on technical assistance. Our research examines energy affordability, rate design, and the savings achievable when programs are well-designed, fully funded, and reach the households that need them most. We engage at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure efficiency programs are funded and protected—collaborating with program administrators and advocating for weatherization programs, utility rebates, and other essential tools. We also provide direct technical assistance to states, utilities, and cities on designing programs and policies that reduce energy burdens across income levels.

Our equity work centers community voices and accountability. We work alongside community-based organizations and local partners, drawing on their expertise to inform our scorecards, policy recommendations, and program design. We run working groups that bring together low-income and multifamily program administrators to share best practices and advance equitable outcomes. Through our Energy Equity for Renters initiative, we provide technical assistance to cities and local partners on program and policy design. Our R2E2 (Residential Retrofits for Energy Equity) program offers training and technical assistance to state, city, and local governments on energy retrofits for affordable housing. And through our scorecard equity metrics, we track how utility efficiency investments flow across income levels and communities—holding the field accountable for genuine progress.