Efficiency Vermont: Energy-burden map shows Northeast Kingdom hardest hit; heat-pump uptake lags where need is greatest

Efficiency Vermont presented its 2023 Energy Burden Report to the Natural Resources & Energy committee on Feb. 6, outlining how the state’s most rural areas shoulder the highest share of household energy costs and noting a mismatch between program participation and where needs are greatest.

Kelly Lucci, director of strategy and partnerships at Efficiency Vermont, said the statewide average energy burden — the share of household income spent on energy — is about 11% when electricity, heating fuels and vehicle fuel are all included and about 5% when transportation is excluded. “Energy burden quite simply is, is, a calculation of a household's overall spending on energy in the context of their income,” Lucci said.

The report uses 2017–2021 data to estimate town- and census-block–level energy burden. The analysis shows a concentrated area of high burden in the Northeast Kingdom and generally lower burdens in northwestern Vermont. Lucci said transportation spending is a significant driver of burden in rural areas and that census-block mapping reveals high-burden pockets that are obscured by town-level averages.

Why it matters: high energy burden indicates households spend a large share of income on energy, leaving less for other essentials. Committee members and Efficiency Vermont staff discussed where state programs are succeeding and where participation gaps remain, especially for weatherization and technologies meant to lower heating costs.

Key findings and evidence

- Statewide averages and data window: Efficiency Vermont estimated a statewide average energy burden of about 11% including…