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COMMUNITY BENEFIT Affordability KEYWORDS Assistance, Utility Bills REGION State, Utility AFFORDABILITY STRATEGY Household Protections OVERSIGHT Utility Commission, Environmental Agency POLICY MECHANISM Legislation, Regulation, Executive Why This Matters A quarter of U.S. households are energy-burdened1—paying more than six percent of income towards utility bills—and could benefit from forms of bill assistance, but the amount of assistance […]

COMMUNITY BENEFIT Affordability, Decarbonization KEYWORDS Efficiency, Tax policy, Distributed energy, Clean energy REGION State AFFORDABILITY STRATEGY Funding and Financing, Residential Decarbonization OVERSIGHT State Tax Departments POLICY MECHANISM Legislation Why This Matters Residential energy tax credits are a key mechanism for household access to clean energy systems, such as rooftop solar and battery storage, energy efficiency

COMMUNITY BENEFIT Affordability, Decarbonization, Environment, Public health, Resilience KEYWORDS Air quality, Decarbonization, Fossil Fuels, Funding, Remediation, Resilie REGION State, Local AFFORDABILITY STRATEGY Funding/Financing OVERSIGHT State Revenue and/or Environmental Agencies POLICY MECHANISM Legislation, Litigation Why This Matters States and local governments face growing costs to infrastructure, public health, and basic services resulting from climate change.1 Resources

COMMUNITY BENEFIT Affordability, decarbonization, Public health, safety KEYWORDS Decarbonization, Methane gas REGION State, Local AFFORDABILITY STRATEGY Utility reform: energy transition; Utility reform: cost containment OVERSIGHT Utility Commissions, Environmental Agencies POLICY MECHANISM Legislation, Regulation Why This Matters Utilities receive guaranteed rates of return on their infrastructure investments—which ratepayers pay back for decades—leading to perverse incentives to

COMMUNITY BENEFIT Affordability, Housing, Public health, Resilience, Safety, Workforce KEYWORDS Decarbonization, Efficiency, Electrification, Housing REGION Federal, State, Local AFFORDABILITY STRATEGY Residential Decarbonization OVERSIGHT Energy Offices, U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Federal Housing Finance Agency POLICY MECHANISM Legislation, Regulation Why This Matters Buildings are responsible for 40% of energy

COMMUNITY BENEFIT Affordability, Decarbonization KEYWORDS Decarbonization, Funding, Resilience REGION Regional, State AFFORDABILITY STRATEGY Funding/Financing OVERSIGHT Various  POLICY MECHANISM Legislation, Regulation Why This Matters To achieve economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions reductions, we need broadly applied, economically effective emissions reduction policies. But we also need to generate significant revenue for investments in the clean energy future.1 Cap-and-invest

COMMUNITY BENEFIT Affordability, Resilience, Decarbonization, Safety, Workforce, Housing KEYWORDS Disaster preparedness, Efficiency, Housing REGION Federal, State, Local AFFORDABILITY STRATEGY Residential Decarbonization OVERSIGHT State Housing Agencies, U.S. Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) POLICY MECHANISM Legislation Why This Matters Over five million low-income homeowners live with energy cost burdens and homes in need

COMMUNITY BENEFIT Affordability, Housing, Resilience, Safety, Decarbonization, Workforce KEYWORDS Clean energy, Efficiency, Housing, Renters REGION State, Local AFFORDABILITY STRATEGY Residential Decarbonization OVERSIGHT Public Housing Authorities, Utility Commissions, Energy Offices, City/County Government POLICY MECHANISM Legislation, Regulation Why This Matters Of the approximately 35% of U.S. households who rent their homes,1 43% (vs. 24% of homeowners) experience

COMMUNITY BENEFIT Affordability,  Decarbonization, Housing, Resilience, Safety, Public health, Workforce KEYWORDS Decarbonization, Disaster preparedness, Efficiency, Housing, Workforce REGION Federal, State, Local AFFORDABILITY STRATEGY Residential Decarbonization OVERSIGHT State Social Service Agencies, Energy Agencies, Utility Commissions POLICY MECHANISM Legislation, Executive Why This Matters The U.S. housing stock has a median age of 44 years, higher than at

COMMUNITY BENEFIT Affordability, Decarbonization, Energy reliability, Resilience KEYWORDS Distributed energy, Electricity, Grid Infrastructure REGION State AFFORDABILITY STRATEGY Utility Reform: Energy Transition, Residential Decarbonization OVERSIGHT Utility Commissions POLICY MECHANISM Legislation, Regulation Why This Matters Distributed energy resources (DERs), such as rooftop and community solar and battery storage, have grown exponentially in recent years,1 but interconnecting DERs