Keep everything unplugged. Turn off the AC. Seal air leaks. Virginians are doing what they can to keep their energy bills low but, for some, it might not be enough.
The Community Climate Collaborative, a nonprofit group, released its latest report from a series of studies analyzing who is hit the hardest with energy bills in Charlottesville, Albemarle County and now Richmond. Low-income households with predominantly people of color tend to spend the highest percentage of their income on energy bills. As energy rates threaten to rise, the report suggests that solar energy could be part of the solution.
A household is considered to have a “high energy burden” if it spends at least 6% of its annual income on energy bills — and the studies found that most low-income households have an average energy burden two or three times higher than that…