In an era of U.S. energy abundance, the persistently high energy bills paid by low-income households is troubling. After decades of weatherization and bill-payment programs, low-income households still spend a higher percent of their income on electricity and gas bills than any other income group. Their energy burden is not declining, and it remains persistently high in particular geographies such as the South, rural America, and minority communities. As public agencies and utilities attempt to transition to a sustainable energy future, many of the programs that promote energy efficiency, rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and home batteries are largely inaccessible to low-income households due to affordability barriers. This review describes the ecosystem of stakeholders and programs, and identifies promising opportunities to address low-income energy affordability, such as behavioral economics, data analytics, and leveraging health care benefits. Scalable approaches require linking programs and policies to tackle the complex web of causes and impacts faced by financially constrained households.

在美国能源充裕的时代，低收入家庭支付的高昂的能源账单一直令人不安。经过数十年的气候化和账单支付计划后，低收入家庭仍然将其收入的电费和燃气费支出比例比其他任何收入组都高。他们的能源负担并没有下降，在诸如南方，美国乡村和少数民族社区等特定地区，能源负担仍然持续居高不下。随着公共机构和公用事业试图过渡到可持续能源的未来，由于负担能力的限制，许多提高能源效率，屋顶太阳能，电动汽车和家用电池的计划在很大程度上无法为低收入家庭所用。这篇评论描述了利益相关者和计划的生态系统，并找出解决低收入能源负担能力的有前途的机会，例如行为经济学，数据分析和利用医疗保健福利。可扩展的方法要求将计划和政策联系起来，以解决经济拮据的家庭所面临的复杂的因果网络。