Inequity in public sector energy efficiency? Explaining disparities in program budgets in California, United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13067249 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michelle Le (0000-0002-9393-0922, University of California, Santa Barbara), Sydney Litvin (Clean Energy (United States)), Atherv Gole (Clean Energy (United States)), Audrey Meiman (Applied Mathematics (United States)), Austin Covey (University of California, Santa Barbara), Nathaniel Villa (University of California, Santa Barbara), Measrainsey Meng (0000-0003-2783-2029, Clean Energy (United States)), Tatum S Katz (0000-0002-3952-5328, University of California, Santa Barbara), Ranjit Deshmukh (0000-0002-5593-675X, University of California, Santa Barbara, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 114 |
| Pages | 103590-103590 |
| Publication date | 2024-05-22 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Energy Research & Social Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2214-6296 • E-ISSN: 2214-6326 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103590 |
| OpenAlex | W4398228345 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 15 |
Inequities in access to energy efficiency programs for public sector entities such as schools and local government directly impact the communities they serve. Using California as a case study, we assess the distributional justice within energy efficiency programs by investigating disparities in program budgets targeting public sector entities, specifically local governments (cities, n = 417; and counties, n = 58) and kindergarten to 12th grade (K−12) public schools (student ages 5/6 to 17/18 years, n = 58). We employ t-tests and multivariate regressions to investigate potential drivers of differences in program budget including rurality, tax revenues, income, race, and disadvantaged status indicators. Our results show that both local governments and K-12 public schools in more rural counties have lower total program budgets because of their lower population compared to more urban counties. Furthermore, energy efficiency programs in local governments and K-12 public schools in counties with a higher share of disadvantaged communities have a lower budget per capita. For K-12 public schools, counties with a higher proportion of students from lower income households or disadvantaged communities have both lower program budgets overall and per capita. These results highlight inequities in energy efficiency program budgets for local governments and K-12 public schools. Better targeting of programs at rural, low income, and disadvantaged communities is essential to ensure equitable access to energy efficiency program resources across communities and regions
Political science · Public sector · Energy Efficiency and Management · Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies · Sustainable Building Design and Assessment
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |