Abstract
The decreasing cost and increasing availability of new technologies capable of improving household energy efficiency, generating and storing renewable energy, and decarbonizing major end use appliances have begun to significantly transform many residential communities across the U.S. Despite these positive developments however, the degree to which disadvantaged communities (DACs) have been able to participate in and benefit from these transformations remains far from equal. Using historical time series data at the zipcode level within Los Angeles County, we document the scale and extent to which DACs continue to be left behind. These data show per-capita levels of electricity and natural gas consumption within DACs that are, on average, about half of those seen within their more affluent counterparts. We argue that the magnitude of these differences reflect a fundamental departure in the use of energy from purposes of sufficiency to those of excess. We introduce a set of forecasts that show the extent to which current inequities in per-capita energy consumption, rates of vehicle electrification, and adoption of rooftop solar PV are likely to persist under the status quo. In conclusion, we suggest that the redistributive investment of public funds for the purpose of accelerating DAC participation in energy system transformations constitutes a socially optimal investment strategy – one which reflects the dramatically higher marginal utility of units of energy consumed at levels of sufficiency rather than excess.
Highlights
Residential Energy Systems in Transition Energy systems are highly complex
Census tracts whose combined CalEnviroScreen 3.0 (CES) scores place them above the 75th percentile statewide are technically classified by the California Energy Commission (CEC) as environmentally disadvantaged communities (DACs)
These metrics include: (a.) annual total electricity usage per-capita, (b.) annual total natural-gas usage per-capita, and (c.) the ratio of per-capita total electricity to total natural gas usage. Data for of these metrics are shown in map form – with majority-DAC zipcodes outlined in red – as well as in scatterplots – with each zipcode being sorted along the horizontal axis on the basis of its mean CES score and the majority-DAC zipcodes plotted in red
Summary
Residential Energy Systems in Transition Energy systems are highly complex. Within them, technologies and policies interact with economics and social histories in unexpected ways. Often subconsciously, structure their lives around the expectation that the energy services they use will not change, and will continue to be available more or less indefinitely (DiCicco et al, 2015). These embedded expectations are evident in the layout of our cities, the design of our homes, the types of energy appliances that we own, and the frequency and intensity with which we use them (Banister et al, 1997; Kahn, 2000; Ewing and Rong, 2008). The impacts of major energy system transformations have the potential to reverberate through every aspect of society
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