IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v184y2024ics0301421523004524.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A targeted approach to energy burden reduction measures: Comparing the effects of energy storage, rooftop solar, weatherization, and energy efficiency upgrades

Author

Listed:
  • Kerby, Jessica
  • Hardy, Trevor
  • Twitchell, Jeremy
  • O’Neil, Rebecca
  • Tarekegne, Bethel

Abstract

As energy prices rise and climate change brings more extreme and frequent days of heating and cooling, households must allocate more of their income to energy bills, increasing their energy burden. Many strategies are employed to alleviate high energy burden, such as weatherization, energy efficiency, and energy storage and rooftop solar, though the benefits of each scale based on factors such as climate, housing characteristics, and energy behaviors. This study used variation in these factors across the United States to create a set of representative houses to investigate the variable responses to different energy burden reduction measures in the simulation environment GridLAB-D. Comparison of modeled energy and bill savings determined weatherization to have the most variability in energy and bill savings, often providing comparable and even greater energy and bill savings to energy storage plus rooftop solar at a fraction of the cost; energy storage provided the most consistent bill savings, determined primarily by the rate tariff used for energy arbitrage; and appliance efficiency upgrades provided minimal energy and bill savings. The results of the analysis can be used by policymakers, utilities, communities, and individuals to tailor energy burden reduction programs, policies, and spending to maximize local benefit.

Suggested Citation

  • Kerby, Jessica & Hardy, Trevor & Twitchell, Jeremy & O’Neil, Rebecca & Tarekegne, Bethel, 2024. "A targeted approach to energy burden reduction measures: Comparing the effects of energy storage, rooftop solar, weatherization, and energy efficiency upgrades," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:184:y:2024:i:c:s0301421523004524
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113867
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421523004524
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113867?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Forrester, Sydney P. & Reames, Tony G., 2020. "Understanding the residential energy efficiency financing coverage gap and market potential," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    2. Wilson, Eric J.H. & Harris, Chioke B. & Robertson, Joseph J. & Agan, John, 2019. "Evaluating energy efficiency potential in low-income households: A flexible and granular approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 710-737.
    3. Shuchen Cong & Destenie Nock & Yueming Lucy Qiu & Bo Xing, 2022. "Unveiling hidden energy poverty using the energy equity gap," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Dominic J. Bednar & Tony G. Reames, 2020. "Recognition of and response to energy poverty in the United States," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 5(6), pages 432-439, June.
    5. Krieger, Elena M. & Casey, Joan A. & Shonkoff, Seth B.C., 2016. "A framework for siting and dispatch of emerging energy resources to realize environmental and health benefits: Case study on peaker power plant displacement," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 302-313.
    6. Reames, Tony Gerard, 2016. "Targeting energy justice: Exploring spatial, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in urban residential heating energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 549-558.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heleno, Miguel & Sigrin, Benjamin & Popovich, Natalie & Heeter, Jenny & Jain Figueroa, Anjuli & Reiner, Michael & Reames, Tony, 2022. "Optimizing equity in energy policy interventions: A quantitative decision-support framework for energy justice," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    2. Huang, Luling & Nock, Destenie & Cong, Shuchen & Qiu, Yueming (Lucy), 2023. "Inequalities across cooling and heating in households: Energy equity gaps," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    3. Jones, Andrew & Nock, Destenie & Samaras, Constantine & Qiu, Yueming (Lucy) & Xing, Bo, 2023. "Climate change impacts on future residential electricity consumption and energy burden: A case study in Phoenix, Arizona," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    4. Spandagos, Constantine & Tovar Reaños, Miguel Angel & Lynch, Muireann Á., 2023. "Energy poverty prediction and effective targeting for just transitions with machine learning," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    5. Sadie M. Witt & Shelby Stults & Emma Rieves & Kevin Emerson & Daniel L. Mendoza, 2019. "Findings from a Pilot Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Bulb Exchange Program at a Neighborhood Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-25, July.
    6. Spandagos, Constantine & Tovar Reaños, Miguel & Lynch, Muireann Á, 2023. "Energy poverty prediction and effective targeting for just transitions with machine learning," Papers WP762, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    7. Buylova, Alexandra, 2020. "Spotlight on energy efficiency in Oregon: Investigating dynamics between energy use and socio-demographic characteristics in spatial modeling of residential energy consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    8. Dogan, Eyup & Madaleno, Mara & Inglesi-Lotz, Roula & Taskin, Dilvin, 2022. "Race and energy poverty: Evidence from African-American households," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    9. Alaina Kinol & Elijah Miller & Hannah Axtell & Ilana Hirschfeld & Sophie Leggett & Yutong Si & Jennie C. Stephens, 2023. "Climate justice in higher education: a proposed paradigm shift towards a transformative role for colleges and universities," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 1-29, February.
    10. Nadav L. Sprague & Isabel B. Fan & Michelle Dandeneau & Jorge Fabian Hernandez Perez & Jordyn Birmingham & Daritza Los Santos & Milan I. Riddick & Gabriella Y. Meltzer & Eva L. Siegel & Diana Hernánde, 2024. "StreetTalk: exploring energy insecurity in New York City using a novel street intercept interview and social media dissemination method," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    11. Excell, Lauren E. & Jain, Rishee K., 2024. "Examining the impact of energy efficiency retrofits and vegetation on energy performance of institutional buildings: An equity-driven analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 357(C).
    12. Lee, Heerae & Shon, Huijoo, 2024. "Spatial and temporal patterns of energy aid and poverty in four African countries: Focusing on distributive and recognition justice," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    13. Lukanov, Boris R. & Krieger, Elena M., 2019. "Distributed solar and environmental justice: Exploring the demographic and socio-economic trends of residential PV adoption in California," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    14. Moore, David & Webb, Amanda L., 2022. "Evaluating energy burden at the urban scale: A spatial regression approach in Cincinnati, Ohio," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    15. Kwon, Minji & Cong, Shuchen & Nock, Destenie & Huang, Luling & Qiu, Yueming (Lucy) & Xing, Bo, 2023. "Forgone summertime comfort as a function of avoided electricity use," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    16. Tony G. Reames & Dorothy M. Daley & John C. Pierce, 2021. "Exploring the Nexus of Energy Burden, Social Capital, and Environmental Quality in Shaping Health in US Counties," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-13, January.
    17. Pennell, Grace & Newman, Sarah & Tarekegne, Bethel & Boff, Daniel & Fowler, Richard & Gonzalez, Juan, 2022. "A comparison of building system parameters between affordable and market-rate housing in New York City," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    18. Das, Runa R. & Martiskainen, Mari & Bertrand, Lindsey M. & MacArthur, Julie L., 2022. "A review and analysis of initiatives addressing energy poverty and vulnerability in Ontario, Canada," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    19. Sunikka-Blank, Minna & Galvin, Ray, 2021. "Single parents in cold homes in Europe: How intersecting personal and national characteristics drive up the numbers of these vulnerable households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    20. Loni, Abdolah & Asadi, Somayeh, 2024. "A data-driven approach to quantify social vulnerability to power outages: California case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:184:y:2024:i:c:s0301421523004524. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.