Quantifying Maine’s Household Energy Burden and Affordability Gap

Date
12/01/24
Who We Work With
Partners & Clients
Maine Electric Ratepayer Advisory Council
Beech Hill Research

As energy costs continue to rise, Maine residents are struggling to afford their utility bills. In fact, according to a Maine Public Utilities Commission tracking study, over half of Mainers say that they have difficulty paying their bills some of the time. The Maine Electric Ratepayer Advisory Council wanted a deeper understanding of the weight of energy costs on residents and to create a report on the state’s energy burden. Our research—developed in partnership with Beech Hill Research—quantified what residents have verbalized about the affordability gap, or the difference between affordable and actual energy bills based on household income. We found:

  • Home energy costs are unaffordable for over 200,000 Maine households, including moderate-income households who face a growing affordability gap of nearly $700 annually.
  • Low-income residents feel the energy burden even more acutely, spending roughly 30% of their income on energy (three times the state average).
  • Transportation adds to the energy affordability gap, with low-income households facing transportation energy burdens of 16% and annual affordability gaps of over $1,800.

Alongside these findings, our team shared ideas to help reduce the energy burden across the state. Key recommendations include:

  • Expanding program eligibility to include moderate income households earning 60% to 80% of state median income.
  • Automatically enrolling eligible households in energy-efficiency programs to increase participation and ease of access.
  • Maintaining the current 4% electricity burden threshold, despite an increase in usage from fuel switching and transportation electrification.
  • Collaborating with housing programs to increase funding for building improvements, especially in low-to-moderate income communities.
  • Focus programs on households relying on unregulated fuels.

Since the Maine Electric Ratepayer Advisory Council published this report, it has been used to inform Efficiency Maine’s new plan to lower energy costs by hundreds of millions of dollars statewide. The Council also plans to use this report to partner with legislatures on finding solutions. We hope it will continue pushing policymakers to focus on energy and transportation affordability in Maine and beyond.

Read the full report below.

Download Report