A new data tool from the Sierra Club breaks down energy burden, showing how much of a household’s income goes toward utility bills in Alabama and other states.

The dashboard shows while the average U.S. household spends about 2.5% of its income on energy, low-income families spend nearly 13% — more than five times as much.

Johanna Heureaux-Torres, energy campaigns analyst for the Sierra Club, said the disparity between households is striking.

“Low-income households really are suffering the most when it comes to energy costs, and there isn’t stuff that’s actually happening out there, or things that are available to them to help offset these costs, or help alleviate this burden,” Heureaux-Torres said.

The tool draws on data from the U.S. Department of Energy and allows users to filter by state, county, congressional district or census tract. It also maps energy burden against health data, including asthma rates and historical redlining patterns.

In Alabama, low-income households face some of the highest energy burdens in the nation, particularly in rural areas and communities of color, according to the Sierra Club.

Patrick Drupp, climate policy director for the Sierra Club, said the dashboard shows not just the scale of the problem, but how solutions exist — though many have been dismantled.

“This administration basically came in and attacked every single thing that would help alleviate the problems that you can see on this map and in this tool,” Drupp said.

Drupp pointed to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP. The program has faced funding threats but remains well-supported in Congress, and Drupp said significantly boosting its funding would make a major dent in energy poverty.

The Trump administration has argued LIHEAP is unnecessary because states “already have policies preventing utility disconnection for low-income households.”

The Sierra Club is urging state action on clean energy while working to restore federal support.

Source: Public News Service