This section shows four maps from the Clean Energy Transition Institute’s (CETI) Community-Defined Decarbonization report to understand the relationship between energy inequities and socioeconomic disparities across communities in Washington.  

Energy burden is the annual share of a household’s income spent toward energy bills and is a common measure of energy insecurity. On average, households in the United States spend 3% of their annual income on energy costs. However, energy burden is not distributed equally, with the most vulnerable households experiencing the most energy insecurity.

The technical and economic analysis that the CETI provided for the Washington 2021 State Energy Strategy found that Washington’s rural communities were substantially energy burdened and are often faced with economic disparities and a lack of infrastructure investment. The Community-Defined Decarbonization report aims to 1) understand the barriers to decarbonizing buildings encountered by the state’s rural low-income, energy-burdened households, and 2) determine whether decarbonization strategies and clean energy development could help to address energy inequities in rural communities.

These maps explore the community-level relationship between poverty level, manufactured homes, and energy burden; access to internet and personal vehicles; and eligibility for state weatherization assistance.