A Deep Dive into Energy Affordability
This page is for public comments only. Data is NOT final.
The Energy Equity Indicators' affordability tool illustrates energy affordability through the lens of energy burden, Energy Affordability Gap, and Energy Affordability Index. These metrics are available at seven geospatial levels that span from census tracts to electric and gas utility service territories. Additional filters allow the ability to toggle between renters-only or homeowners-only analyses, and to filter different community types like SB 535 Disadvantaged Communities, JAEDI Justice Census Tracts, or the least affordable quartile of census tracts as determined by the CEC's Energy Affordability Index. A Pearson correlation tool is available at the census tract and ZIP code levels to identify relationships between community types and their level of energy affordability.
The data is gathered from numerous internal and external sources. Energy cost data is first collected for in-home energy costs from the Department of Energy's Low-Income Energy Affordability Data tool and then supplemented with transportation fuel costs that are derived from an aggregation of CalTrans and CEC datasets. Family self-sufficiency (also referred to as living costs) data comes from the University of Washington's Center for Women's Welfare, and socioeconomic and demographic data comes from the American Community Survey.
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Energy Equity: The intentional design of systems, technology, procedures, and policies that lead to the fair and just distribution of benefits in the energy system. An equitable energy system is one where the economic, health, and social benefits of participation extend to all levels of society, regardless of ability, race, or socioeconomic status.
Energy Burden: Percent of income spent on energy annually.
Energy Affordability Gap: Population-weighted measure of the gap between affordable energy burdens and unaffordable energy burdens. In this analysis, energy burdens above 7% are considered unaffordable.
Energy Affordability Index: Financial burden placed on households plus the household's ability to react to energy price changes. The formula: percentile (Financial Energy Burden) + percentile (Disposable Income Per Person) = Energy Affordability Index.
Disadvantaged Community: Abbreviated as "DAC", is a community that is prioritized in certain state programs per SB 535.
Justice Census Tracts: A priority community type defined by the Justice, Access, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiative. Justice census tracts are a subset of Justice Communities that can be denoted by geographical boundaries.
Pearson Correlations
The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) measures the linear correlation between two sets of data.
Interpretation,
- Negative correlations (between –1 and 0): when one variable changes, the other variable changes in the opposite direction.
- No correlation (0): there is no relationship between the variables.
- Positive correlations (between 0 and 1): when one variable changes, the other variable changes in the same direction.
For more information, view Pearson Correlation Coefficient.
Data last updated: September 15, 2025
Data Collection Information
California VMT Data | Caltrans (Last accessed in August 2024)
Microdata - Census Bureau Datasets (Last accessed in January 2024)
CalEnviroScreen 4.0 (Last accessed in January 2024)
Citing
Please cite use of these data and images. California Energy Commission [Year]. California Energy Commission [Dashboard Title] Data last updated [insert date last updated]. Retrieved [insert date retrieved] from [Dashboard URL].
Contact
Energy Equity Indicators
EnergyEquityIndicators@energy.ca.gov