SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — A new report is out showing home energy efficiency programs are falling short of the need for many low income households across Memphis.
Data released from the Southern Environmental Law Center reveals programs offered by MLGW and the TVA are barely putting a dent in the number of households that could benefit from better insulated, more efficient homes.
“The programs are woefully inadequate. They do not make a significant difference in any way to the lives of the folks that need it the Most hundreds of homes being done over the course of years is infinitesimal,” said KeShaun Pearson. Executive Director of Memphis Community Against Pollution
A total of 2,062 Shelby County homes have been upgraded since 2018 through low-income energy efficiency support programs, just 7% of the roughly 30,000 households paying more than a fifth of their income toward energy bills.
The report also found in Shelby County, over 100,000 low income households are paying at least 6% of their income toward energy bills. The national average for energy burden is below four percent, but in Memphis, the median energy burden is 5.6%. In some areas, including predominantly Black communities, the energy burdens are even higher.
“These programs that are in existence, they lack in engagement. It is an ‘If you know, you know’ type of situation, and that is just not going to be beneficial for the future and the economic upward mobility of our communities, and we need that desperately,” Pearson said.
As heat waves become more prolonged and common across the south, the worry is those numbers are only going to continue to rise.
“I see this as an opportunity for them to really bolster these programs, and really seek support in how they finance this work, because our climate is going to continue to deteriorate” Pearson said.