The local context of energy assistance: exploring spatial associations between community characteristics and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program facilities

Social policy literature reveals proximity to social service offices and programme enrolment is linked. Individuals’ inability to walk to social service offices are consistently cited obstacles for applicants. Research, however, has yet to investigate spatial accessibility in the context of U.S. energy assistance. To fill this gap, we explore spatial associations between the location of energy assistance facilities (i.e. offices that facilitate applications), local socioeconomic indicators, and geographic contexts. Employing descriptive, spatial, and empirical analyses, we find spatial accessibility to energy assistance facilities is limited in the U.S. Approximately 6 percent of the population lives within close walking distance – within 1 mile – of its nearest facility, 21.1 percent live between 1 and 3 miles from a facility, and 18.2 percent of the population lives outside of any facility’s service area. Linear regression estimates confirm facilities are located farther from residential communities. Additionally, empirical models find local context is important to how select spatial associations manifest. While regression estimates suggest facilities are located closer to disadvantaged populations, including Black, Hispanic, and renters, despite geographic context, others vary. On average, energy assistance facilities are located farther from populations with higher energy burdens; however, this outcome only holds in non-urban areas whereas communities with higher energy burdens in urbanised areas are located closer to facilities. Our results will help administrators identify gaps in energy assistance accessibility and coverage, informing future facility siting determinations and outreach efforts.

社会政策领域的研究文献显示，居民与社会服务机构的距离远近与项目报名参与情况密切相关。申请人往往将无法步行前往社会服务机构列为申请过程中的一大阻碍。然而，目前尚未有研究针对美国能源援助项目场景下的空间可达性展开探讨。为填补这一研究空白，本研究聚焦美国能源援助设施（即协助办理申请的服务站点）的选址、当地社会经济指标与地理环境之间的空间关联。通过描述性分析、空间分析与实证分析，本研究发现美国民众前往能源援助设施的空间可达性普遍不足：约6%的居民居住在距离最近的设施步行可达范围内（即1英里以内），21.1%的居民居住在距离设施1至3英里的区域，另有18.2%的居民身处所有设施的服务覆盖范围之外。线性回归分析结果证实，能源援助设施与居民区的距离普遍较远。此外，实证模型显示，当地地理环境会显著影响特定空间关联的表现形式。尽管回归结果表明，无论地理环境如何，能源援助设施往往更靠近少数族裔（黑人、西班牙裔）与租房者这类弱势群体，但其他关联则存在差异。平均而言，能源援助设施与能源负担较重的居民群体距离更远，但这一规律仅适用于非城区区域；而在城市化地区，能源负担较高的社区反而距离设施更近。本研究结果可帮助政策管理者识别能源援助项目在可达性与覆盖范围上的短板，为后续设施选址决策与推广宣传工作提供参考依据。