INDIANAPOLIS -- One in four U.S. households faces a high energy-cost burden, and it's a hardship that a new report finds disproportionately affects certain demographics.

The analysis from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy showed that low-income households, communities of color, renters and older adults are groups that all pay a much larger share of their income on energy bills. Specifically, said lead report author Ariel Drehobl, a senior research associate for the council, Black, Indigenous and other people of color have seen limited access to energy-efficient and healthy housing.

"Some systemic policies -- such as racial segregation, high unemployment, high poverty rates -- have led to a lack of access to mortgages or loans, which can help to make energy-efficiency investments in homes," she said.

Indiana is among the five states in the report's East North Central Region, where 29% of all households experience a high energy burden. Some 37% of renters, 43% of Black households and 75% of low-income households in the region spend more than 6% of their income on energy bills, compared with the 3.6% paid by the median household.

Drehobl said the data is from 2017, when many people in these groups already were struggling to afford utility bills. With the nation on the brink of a recession due to COVID-19, she said, these households now may be seeing job losses and reduced income -- at the same time their energy costs are higher because of stay-at-home orders.

"Now is a time to think about how to support people in the short term," she said, "while also thinking in the long term of how to help communities be more efficient, more resilient through policies that make access to energy efficiency, access to clean energy, more equitable."

The report encouraged investments in energy efficiency, including more federal funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Drehobl said local and state governments and utility companies should direct their energy-efficiency and renewable-energy investments to disadvantaged communities.

The report is online at aceee.org.


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A new report from nonprofit The Climate Center has unearthed historical documents that show the big oil companies orchestrated a tax break that allows them to avoid paying an estimated $75 million to $146 million a year.

The California Legislature adopted the so-called "Water's Edge" tax policy in 1986.

Barry Vesser, chief operating officer with The Climate Center, said it allows companies to decide which of their earnings are taxable in California, and exclude those linked to operations elsewhere, thus dramatically reducing what they owe in taxes.

"The report shows is that companies like Chevron and Shell and Exxon, back in the '70s and '80s, worked really hard to get this exemption into the tax code, in spite of the fact that lots of advocates and many people in government were saying that this is a bad idea, including the head of the Franchise Tax Board at the time," Vesser explained.

The report estimates that "Water's Edge" costs California about $4 billion a year across all industries. The oil companies argue that it is unfair for a state to tax their global earnings. However, oil-rich Alaska prohibits this type of tax exemption.

Climate advocates are pressing California lawmakers to end all subsidies for these companies in budget negotiations this spring. Vesser noted that last year, California's budget cut billions from climate programs to help fill a $46 billion deficit. Meanwhile, Chevron, Shell and Exxon reported $83 billion in profits in 2023.

"Oil and gas companies spent $31.4 million in 2024," he continued. "They broke a record even in the first three-quarters of all-time spending at the California State Legislature. So, these companies are working to undermine sensible public policy outcomes."

Assemblymember Damon Conolly, D-San Rafael, said in a statement that eliminating the Water's Edge tax break for multinational oil and gas corporations is a common-sense solution to make polluting industries pay their fair share to fix the environmental and health problems they helped create.

A new report found New York State needs a more equitable grid transmission process.

The Energy Justice Law and Poverty Center report noted investments in front-line communities are not being identified or prioritized, which goes against the state's climate laws. It also showed a severe lack of transparency in upgrading grid transmission infrastructure.

Raya Salter, executive director of the center, said the current process reinforces long-standing inequities which the state's climate law accounts for.

"The CLCPA (Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act) acknowledged there have been historic and unfair disinvestments in communities of color and low-income communities when it comes to our energy systems," Salter pointed out. "There have been a disproportionate number of impacts on those same communities due to pollution."

Minority communities face high impacts from peaker plants and other polluting energy infrastructure. However, New York is phasing out high nitrogen oxide-emitting peaker plants by year's end.

Some ways to make the process more equitable include tracking impacts utility investments have on environmental justice communities and ensuring the state's Public Service Commission accounts for equity and justice impacts.

Implementing the recommendations could be challenging, but Salter feels there are few alternatives. If nothing is done, she believes a utility company's multibillion dollar investments will not do as much to improve health outcomes for communities harmed by energy infrastructure pollution. Salter noted one challenge is the transmission process' lack of transparency.

"The utilities are kind of being asked for themselves how much investment they should be making, and we need to make sure the light is shined as brightly as possible on what these investments will be and how they will be made," Salter urged. "Another challenge is that many reports have shown New York State is behind on our clean energy mandate."

The primary reasons New York fell behind on its climate goals range from lacking political will from state lawmakers to pandemic-related inflation on construction costs derailing some offshore wind projects.


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Backers say a law adding nuclear power to the definition of "green" energy will give Ohioans another option to cut carbon emissions but some environmentalists are skeptical.

House Bill 308, signed in December by Gov. Mike DeWine, is designed to open the state to nuclear power research and development. However, critics are concerned it could be used to diminish the roles of renewables, such as wind and solar energy in reaching future climate goals.

Rep. Sean Brennan, D-Parma, is a co-sponsor of the bill. He is unsure the state can reach its climate goals with the current mix of renewables.

"My belief is that if we're ever going to wean ourselves off of coal and natural gas, fossil fuels, we've got to expand our nuclear portfolio in Ohio. We just have to do it," Brennan asserted. "Wind and solar just aren't going to do it for us."

Environmental groups such as Earthjustice say the measure is similar to a controversial 2022 law classifying natural gas as green energy despite the fact its use creates hydrocarbon emissions. Critics also fear the language could be used to divert public funding from renewable energy projects.

Brennan noted the bill does not promise any financial incentives for nuclear power or divert public funds from renewable energy projects. He argued opening up to nuclear energy, which does not emit carbon into the atmosphere, will help attract jobs and federal funding.

"We need to continue to expand on solar and wind," Brennan contended. "I truly believe we have to do that, but I believe nuclear is going to be hugely important for our future energy independence, and hopefully, Ohio will become an exporter of electricity in the future."

Ohio ended its renewable energy standard in 2019 in the midst of a corruption and bribery scandal involving nuclear and coal-powered energy plants in the state. Brennan emphasized Ohio needs to move forward in its efforts to fight climate change.

"I decided to join the legislation because I believe it's a good idea to send a message to stakeholders that Ohio is open to explore expanding nuclear, whereas some states have moratoriums on nuclear," Brennan added. "I think it's going to be important to our future energy needs in Ohio."

This story is based on original reporting by Kathiann M. Kowalski for Energy News Network.


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