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Title: Energy and Equity in the Twin Cities Workshop Summary Report
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2022
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Abstract: How the energy system impacts the lives of Minnesota households varies significantly based on race, income, geography, housing quality, access to infrastructure, and broader historic patterns of injustice. Energy burden, the percentage of household income spent on non-transportation energy use, is one indicator of how the energy system impacts lives. In Minnesota, the average household energy burden is 2 percent, which is below the national average. Yet Minnesotans living below the Federal Poverty Level carry an average energy burden of 16 percent – an eightfold increase. The effect of a high energy burden on one’s wellbeing is multifold: Households with higher energy burdens are more likely to face disconnections from electric and gas services, as well as face tradeoffs between being able to afford energy and being able to afford other basic necessities, such as food, medicine, or transportation. Numerous federal, state, and local policies and programs aim to address the persistent disparities caused by the energy system by expanding opportunities through the energy system. These efforts target household energy insecurity, unequal access to energy efficiency and clean energy, and the diversity of the workforce in the energy sector, among other issues. In the coming decade, the energy system is likely to undergo a radical transformation from fossil fuel to clean energy technologies in response to climate change. That makes now a critical time to ask: How can we, starting in our own communities, leverage the opportunity created by this transition to effectively recognize and respond to energy injustices? Failing to recognize current injustices in the energy system risks building an energy future that replicates or exacerbates injustice.
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Authors: Ries, Heidi; Chan, Gabriel; Schares, Olivia; Kenney Megan Guerber, Melissa; Nelson, Edwin; Kenney, Melissa; Long, Kimberly; Xiong, Choua; Afamefune, Jen; Giesting, Anna; Pradhan, Bhavin; Carter, Chris; Moebius, Jack; Teklinski, Mark; Pratas Fernandes, Matilde; Anders, Mattie; Twardock, Nathan; Komoroski, Sarah; Passer, Ben; Martin, Nick
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Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS
Topics: Natural Resource Management
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