People in Birmingham pay more for utility bills, as a percentage of their income, than residents of most other cities.
That’s according to a new report by an energy advocacy group that examined utility bills in 25 major metros. Birmingham topped the list.
The report was released this week by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, a group that advocates for energy efficiency, like home weatherization, to reduce bills.
The group anticipates utility shutoffs during the pandemic may disproportionately impact low-income, minority groups, who spend higher percentages of their incomes on paying energy bills.
“Even before the recession, many people with high energy burdens had to cut back on other necessities like food and medicine to afford utility bills,” said report author and Senior Research Associate Ariel Drehobl a statement.
In Birmingham, 153,330 households have a high energy burden, according to the report. Detroit ranked second on the list of cities, based on the percentage of income its residents paid towards energy. San Francisco came in last and San Jose ranked second-to-last for the lowest energy burdens among the 25 cities reviewed.
While some states formally paused cutoffs for impacted citizens at the onset of the pandemic, Alabama instead allowed utilities to decide whether to disconnect service for their customers' unpaid bills. Across Alabama and nationwide, utility providers that had stopped shutting off services because of non-payment during the pandemic have resumed disconnects for past due payments.
“Now, many of the same communities that were struggling to pay bills before the global pandemic are being hit the hardest by job losses and could be at particular risk for shutoffs ahead,” said Drehobl.
More than a third of Birmingham residents, 34 percent, had a high energy burden, with utilities that cost 6 percent or more of residents' income, according to the report, which relied on federal data from 2017.
Birmingham was among five cities where a quarter of low-income people pay more than 18 percent of their income on utilities. The other cities were Baltimore, Detroit, Boston and Philadelphia.
The report found nationally, low-income people spent three times the amount of income on energy that wealthier Americans do.
Across the 25 major cities included in the report, black households spent about 43 percent more of their income on energy costs compared to white households. Latino households spent 20 percent more of their pay on utilities.
Regional disparities in energy burdens existed as well. Residents in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi spent a greater amount of their income on utilities than in other parts of the country.
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September 13, 2020 at 11:09PM
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Birmingham tops list of 25 cities for energy costs relative to pay - AL.com
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