Inequity in public sector energy efficiency? Explaining disparities in program budgets in California, United States

Inequities in access to energy efficiency programs for public sector entities such as schools and local government directly impact the communities they serve. Using California as a case study, we assess the distributional justice within energy efficiency programs by investigating disparities in program budgets targeting public sector entities, specifically local governments (cities, n = 417; and counties, n = 58) and kindergarten to 12th grade (K−12) public schools (student ages 5/6 to 17/18 years, n = 58). We employ t-tests and multivariate regressions to investigate potential drivers of differences in program budget including rurality, tax revenues, income, race, and disadvantaged status indicators. Our results show that both local governments and K-12 public schools in more rural counties have lower total program budgets because of their lower population compared to more urban counties. Furthermore, energy efficiency programs in local governments and K-12 public schools in counties with a higher share of disadvantaged communities have a lower budget per capita. For K-12 public schools, counties with a higher proportion of students from lower income households or disadvantaged communities have both lower program budgets overall and per capita. These results highlight inequities in energy efficiency program budgets for local governments and K-12 public schools. Better targeting of programs at rural, low income, and disadvantaged communities is essential to ensure equitable access to energy efficiency program resources across communities and regions. •Identify inequity in energy efficiency program budgets for local governments and public schools.•t-tests and multivariate regressions identify predictors of program budget inequity.•Local governments and public schools in rural counties have lower program budgets.•Low-income students and disadvantaged communities predict lower program budgets per student for schools.