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 transportation and about 5% excluding transportation, based on data from 2017–2021. Lucci noted the data window includes pandemic years and cautioned about interpreting trend lines without that context.

- Geography of burden: The report identifies the Northeast Kingdom as having many of Vermont’s highest energy-burden communities. Lucci and committee members repeatedly pointed to transportation costs and lower median incomes as primary drivers there.

- Census-block analysis: Efficiency Vermont produced interactive maps at the census-block level and highlighted Barre as an example where block-level variation revealed much higher burdens in particular neighborhoods than town averages imply.

- Energy categories: Transportation costs showed the most variation across communities; electricity spending showed the least. On average, higher-spending communities had estimated annual energy bills near $8,000, while lower-spending communities were nearer $4,000 (estimates reported by Efficiency Vermont).

Program alignment and gaps

Efficiency Vermont evaluated how program deployment aligns with burden. The presentation found low alignment between areas of high thermal burden and the uptake of cold-climate heat pumps and weatherization.

Lucci explained the statewide point-of-sale incentive for efficient cold-climate heat pumps: “When a contractor goes to a distributor and purchases a cold climate heat pump to install in somebody's home, there is a discount that is already, taken off of that heat pump.” She added that electric utilities also offer incentives tied to their Tier 3 obligations and that additional incentives are available afterward for low- and moderate-income customers.

Committee members noted that many high-burden communities have lower rates of heat-pump adoption despite the incentives. Peter Walk (Efficiency Vermont) said statewide programs are “primarily passive programs” and argued for more active outreach: “They are designed for people who are interested to be able to save money. If we are going to continue to do this work and help for all of our managers transition, we need to be more active in our approach across the board as a state.”

Program design changes and nonfinancial barriers

Efficiency Vermont described program adjustments intended to improve access:

- Appliance voucher: The voucher program now qualifies by income rather than energy burden after staff found some low-income customers did not qualify under an energy-burden test because their energy usage was low. Lucci said the voucher can be used at participating in-state retailers (and some out-of-state retailers), and Efficiency Vermont has agreements with major retailers including Lowe's and Home Depot.

- Language access: After flood-recovery work in Montpelier identified translation and interpretation barriers, Efficiency Vermont expanded interpretation-by-video and translated forms to cover more languages; Lucci said the service can support about 300 languages.

- Community engagement: Lucci described dedicated community-engagement staff who conduct outreach and partner with local organizations to raise program participation where uptake is low.

Other technical and policy details

- Data years and timing: The report analyzes 2017–2021 data; Lucci said a follow-up report using more recent data is not expected until about 2026 and that Efficiency Vermont can provide more recent installation data on request.

- Performance contract and metrics: Efficiency Vermont operates under a performance-based contract overseen by state regulators. Lucci summarized the relative weighting of performance metrics — total resource benefits and megawatt-hour reduction are the largest wedges (each roughly 25%), while greenhouse-gas reduction is weighted about 5% — and said these weightings guide program priorities.

- Fuel and infrastructure nuance: Lucci cautioned that electrification does not always reduce household costs, especially for customers on the Vermont Gas pipeline, for whom continuing to use natural gas can be less expensive than a heat pump. She also noted that older housing stock can make weatherization and efficient equipment installations more challenging and that weatherization is often a precursor to cost-effective electrification.

What was not decided

The committee did not take formal action or vote on policy changes at the meeting. The presentation and discussion were framed as informational; members and staff identified follow-up items such as requesting updated installation maps and exploring more active outreach strategies.

Ending

Lucci encouraged committee members and staff to consult the report and interactive maps online at efficiencyvermont.com/energyburden for community- and census-block–level detail and said Efficiency Vermont can provide updated installation data on request. The committee adjourned after the presentation.