2.9 : Low-Income Housing
| 2.9.2 |
Energy Burden
Definitions |
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| Energy burden
is an important statistic for policy makers who are considering the need for
energy assistance. Energy burden can be |
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| defined
broadly as the burden placed on household incomes by the cost of energy, or
more simply, the ratio of energy expenditures |
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| to household
income. However, there are different ways to compute energy burden, and
different interpretations and uses of |
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| the energy
burden statistics. DOE Weatherization primarily uses mean individual burden
and mean group burden since these |
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| statistics
provide data on how an "average" individual household fares against
an "average" group of households (that is, how |
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| burdens are
distributed for the population). DOE Weatherization (and HHS) also uses the
median individual burden which shows |
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| the burden of a
"typical" individual. |
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| Mean
Individual Burden: This statistic is calculated by first computing the energy
burden for each household using RECS |
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| data and then
taking a mean of the household-level energy burden estimates. It furnishes
the most complete information about how a |
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| burden is
distributed for the population. |
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| Mean Group
Burden: This statistic calculates energy expenditures for all households in
the group and divides by the average |
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for the group. This statistic is calculated as the ratio between aggregate
energy expenditures of a group (from RECS |
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aggregate group income (from CPS). |
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| Median
Individual Burden: This statistic is computed by taking a median of the RECS
household-level energy burden |
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| estimates (the
point at which 50% of households have a higher burden value and 50% have a
lower value). |
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DOWNLOAD TABLE AS PDF XLS
Related Tables:
Sources:
HHS, LIHEAP Report to Congress FY 2000, Apr. 2002, p. 45 for energy burden definition
| HHS, Characterizing the Impact of Energy Expenditures on Low-Income Households: An Analysis of Alternative National Energy Burden Statistics, Nov. 1994, p. vii and ix for burdens
| ORNL, Scope of the Weatherization Assistance Program: Profile of the Population in Need, Mar. 1994, p. xii for mean individual and mean group burdens
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