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Orlando's low-income residents shoulder greater energy burden, study finds

Stanton Energy Center. Photo by Amy Green
Amy Green
/
WMFE
Stanton Energy Center

A new study shows that Orlando’s low-income residents are paying a greater proportion of their household income toward electricity.

The study coincides with an Energy Equity Summit on Thursday in Orlando.

The study shows that the disparity especially affects neighborhoods in western and southwestern Orlando, areas that are home to marginalized communities.

The Sierra Club’s Florida chapter commissioned the study. Susan Glickman of Florida Clinicians for Climate Action says the state’s utilities can do more to lower energy costs.

“To have these high energy burdens in the lowest-income areas, those energy burdens are two and a half times what they are in more affluent areas, and that’s really not acceptable.”

She says these residents often live in substandard housing and lack access to things like energy efficient windows and appliances.

Amy Green covered the environment for WMFE until 2023. Her work included the 2020 podcast DRAINED.
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