New Hampshire is one of the nation’s most energy-burdened states, according to a new data analysis from the Sierra Club, and prices are expected to climb.
The state’s reliance on fuel oil is contributing to higher residential energy bills as the war in Iran creates uncertainty in global markets. Johanna Heureaux-Torres, an energy campaigns analyst for the Sierra Club, said families are increasingly forced to make tough tradeoffs to cover basic needs.
“Low-income households really are suffering the most when it comes to energy costs," she said, "and there isn’t stuff that’s actually happening out there to help offset these costs or help alleviate this burden.”
Heureaux-Torres said the data is compiled in an online tool people can use to see how their own community compares with the rest of the country. A New Hampshire family of four earning less than $50,000 a year currently pays close to 20% of its income on energy, according to the analysis.
The tool relies on data from the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as federal health data on asthma rates and high blood pressure. It also incorporates data related to the historical practice of redlining in neighborhoods.
Patrick Drupp, the Sierra Club’s climate policy director, said poor housing stock and financial barriers to clean-energy technologies are adding to families’ energy burden. He said it has been frustrating to watch the Trump administration undo many of the programs supporting energy efficiency or ways to stabilize home energy prices.
“Clean energy is obviously the fastest and cheapest form of energy,” Drupp said. “Bringing it on grid as fast as possible would be one of the biggest things you could do to lower electricity prices for people.”
The Trump administration has made domestic fossil-fuel production a priority and deems the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, government overreach.
Drupp said increasing LIHEAP’s budget from $5 billion to $20 billion would erase energy poverty across the United States.
Source: Public News Service
