Energy Burden in New Jersey
This story map represents the beginnings of an investigation into the presence of Energy Burden within the state of New Jersey.
Defining Energy Burden
The term Energy Burden refers to the percentage of household income spent on energy utility costs. Typically, this includes heating, cooling, and other household energy uses but does not include transportation related energy costs (such as purchasing gas).
A household is considered Energy Burdened when 6% or more of household income is spent on energy costs.[1]
In September 2020, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released How High Are Household Energy Burdens? An Assessment of National and Metropolitan Energy Burden across the United States. Findings from this report indicate that more than 25% of US households are Energy Burdened and that low-income, Black, Hispanic, Native American, renter, and older adult households experience disproportionately higher energy burdens than the national average (Drehobl, Ross, and Ayala 2020).
This graph shows how Energy Burden differs for households of varying compositions (Source: Drehobl, Ross, and Ayala 2020, page 10).
[1] The justification for this benchmark is rooted in a similar concept of housing burden. A household is considered housing burdened if it spends more than 30% of its income on housing. As part of housing costs, energy costs should account for no more than 20% of this 30% (or 6%) (Brown et al. 2019).
Energy Burden Estimates from the LEAD Tool
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provides nationwide Energy Burden data through the Low-Income Energy Affordability Data (LEAD) Tool. The LEAD Tool uses housing data from the 2016 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) to estimate energy consumption and expenditures by housing unit type according to housing unit counts for each census tract. These estimates are used to determine the average energy burden for census tracts and can be calculated using either Area Median Income (AMI), State Median Income (SMI), or Federal Poverty Level (FPL). [2]
Shown in this map are the AMI LEAD Tool Energy Burden (% income) values for each New Jersey census tract where data was available (Ma et al. 2019).
[2] More detail regarding the methodology of the LEAD Tool can be found here: https://lead.openei.org/assets/docs/LEAD-Tool-Methodology.pdf
Energy Burdened Communities
In order to highlight communities in New Jersey that may be experiencing Energy Burden, this map shows only those census tracts which had LEAD calculated Energy Burdens of 6% or more.
3.5% of New Jersey census tracts had Energy Burdens of 6% or higher in 2018.
New Jersey Environmental Justice Law
On September 18, 2020, Governor Phil Murphy signed the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law, requiring the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) “to evaluate the contributions of certain facilities to existing environmental and public health stressors in overburdened communities when reviewing certain permit applications…[and] to publish a list of overburdened communities.” As defined in the law, Overburdened Communities (OBCs) are any census block group in which:
- at least 35 percent of the households qualify as low-income households (at or below twice the poverty threshold as determined by the United States Census Bureau)
- at least 40 percent of the residents identify as minority or as members of a State recognized tribal community
- at least 40 percent of the households have limited English proficiency (without an adult that speaks English “very well” according to the United States Census Bureau) ("Environmental" n.d.).
2019 NJ EJ Overburdened Communities (OBCs)
In 2019, NJDEP identified a total of 3,168 OBCs throughout the state. Together, these communities are home to 4,518,217 New Jerseyans or approximately 50.9% of the population. [3]
This map shows the location and category of overburden for each of the Overburdened Communities identified by NJDEP in 2019.
[3] The population percentage was calculated using the 2019 ACS 5-year estimated population of 8,878,503 for New Jersey (U.S. 2019).
Intersection of NJ EJ OBCs and Energy Burdened Communities
The findings of the ACEEE report mentioned previously discuss the high correlation between Energy Burdened households and households that are low-income and/or minority. This suggest there may also be high correspondence between New Jersey communities that are Energy Burdened and those that are considered Overburdened under the NJ Environmental Justice Law.
Shown in this map are all of the 3,168 2019 Overburdened Communities, with the 56 2018 Energy Burdened census tracts outlined in red.
Intersection of NJ EJ OBCs and Energy Burdened Communities Cont.
Overburdened Communities are defined by census block group, while Energy Burden is defined by census tract. Census block groups are located within census tracts. New Jersey has 6,320 census block groups and 2,010 census tracts.
Based on the LEAD Tool AMI estimates, there were 56 out of 2,010 census tracts (2.8%) that were Energy Burdened in 2018.
Findings:
- 54 out of 56 Energy Burdened census tracts (95%) contained one or more Overburdened Communities.
- 186 out of 3,168 Overburdened Communities (5.9%) are located within an Energy Burdened census tract. This translates to an approximate 5.1% of the state population. [4]
- A majority of these 186 Overburdened Communities in Energy Burdened census tracts (140 or 75.3%) are categorized as Low Income & Minority communities.
[4] The population percentage was calculated using the 2019 ACS 5-year estimated population of 8,878,503 for New Jersey (U.S. 2019).
Continuing the research...
The data presented within this Story Map represents a starting place for identifying Energy Burdened New Jersey communities, as well as communities which may be facing multiple hardships at once. However, identifying Energy Burdened communities is only the first step in moving towards a more equitable energy future.
Some questions for further investigation are:
- Where are the gaps in the delivery of energy efficiency and clean energy program benefits to residents with the highest energy burdens?
- What are the characteristics of the 5% of Energy Burdened census tracts that are not captured as Overburdened Communities and do these tracts have populations that also need to be accounted for with respect to Energy Burden and other social and/or climate vulnerabilities?
- For the four Energy Burdened block groups that have Limited English Proficiency, can we explore what the language barriers are so that we can deliver more tailored programs to these communities?
As this project continues, it will be important to investigate Energy Equity more broadly. This means using the knowledge gained to inform analysis of current and future policies and programs that aim to increase access to affordable and clean energy.
