Advocates tell St. Louis HUD committee energy burden hits Black neighborhoods hardest; urge low‑income rates and more data
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Summary
Sierra Club, Renew Missouri and Consumers Council told the St. Louis City Housing, Urban Development & Zoning Committee that energy burden—household share of income spent on utilities—is concentrated in city census tracts and disproportionately affects Black neighborhoods; they urged targeted utility outreach, low‑income rates and publication of disconnection data.
Advocates from the Sierra Club, Renew Missouri and the Consumers Council of Missouri told the St. Louis City Housing, Urban Development & Zoning Committee on Nov. 12 that many households in the city spend a disproportionate share of income on energy, with the heaviest burdens concentrated in historically disinvested, majority‑Black neighborhoods.
"I'm Jen DeRose. I am with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign," said DeRose, introducing the coalition of presenters who analyzed Ameren Inspire 2022 meter data. Tori Cheatham of Renew Missouri described a new interactive dashboard and an Energy Resource Navigator built from real utility data to map energy burden by census tract. "We built this tool ... it really hones in on what is happening at the census tract level," Cheatham said, explaining the analysis uses actual Ameren gas and electric data from 2022 and excludes water costs.
The presenters defined energy burden as the percentage of household income spent on energy and said they categorize census tracts as low (1–3%), medium (3–5.9%) and high (6% or more). They reported roughly 31,800 households in the region live in high‑energy burden tracts, with about 19,000 in St. Louis City versus 12,000 in the county. "Census tracts with a higher percentage of Black residents actually have much higher energy burdens and higher rates of respiratory illness," Cheatham said.
Panelists urged policy actions: utilities should develop targeted outreach and publish disconnection data at ZIP‑code or census‑tract level; state and local actors should broaden bill‑assistance eligibility and pursue low‑income rate designs and community solar options. Sharron Jones of Consumers Council noted LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) functions as a key federal backstop; she said LIHEAP funding currently is authorized through January 2026 and asked the committee to advocate to preserve funding.
In questioning, aldermen praised the report and recommended local steps—tree‑canopy investment to reduce cooling costs, closer attention to data center load impacts, and stronger engagement with utilities and the Public Service Commission docket that could enable a low‑income tariff. Committee members requested that the presenters and staff share the resource navigator (mosaves.com) with constituents.
What happens next: presenters urged city engagement at the state level and public comment in the PSC docket; aldermen said they will review the dashboard and explore local follow‑up.
