Energy affordability is core to Just Solutions’ mission.
It sits at the intersection of climate justice, racial equity, and economic security. High energy costs don’t merely strain household budgets; they deepen inequality, undermine health, and push families further from stability. Our work is rooted in the leadership of communities who are hit first and worst by these compounding burdens, and we believe that they must lead in the design and implementation of solutions. Addressing affordability isn’t separate from building a clean-energy future; rather, it’s how we ensure that future is accessible, equitable, and durable.
So together, we’ll support advocates as they advance state policies that:
- Protect households based on ability to pay with strategies such as percentage-of-income payment plans and year-round shut-off bans.
- Drive down costs using decarbonization tools like community solar and deep efficiency retrofits.
- Re-align utility business models so savings become the performance metric that matters.
learn more about how we are teaming up with state climate justice coalitions and organizations nationwide to put affordability first in the clean-energy conversation
Accounting For Rural Energy Cost Burdens in Energy Affordability Policies
Authors: Jennifer Moon, PhD. and Arjun Makhijani, PhD. In conversations about energy affordability, the unique affordability challenges that rural communities face can be overlooked. Rural communities have lower median household income levels that make it harder to pay bills; are geographically isolated—creating challenges in energy delivery and access to assistance programs; and have higher rates…
Affording Our Energy Future: Perspectives to Power Change
Energy affordability has rocketed to the top of the American political agenda. At the gas station, filling up can easily cost over $50 per tank, and millions of people are barely scraping by after their monthly utility bills and rent/mortgage payments. But with all the attention, we have a unique opportunity to inform and influence…
Pathways For Action: Affording Our Clean Energy Future
Across the country, households are struggling to pay for mounting energy costs. From state to state, the costs of everything from mitigating wildfires to integrating new data centers loads are driving up utility bills. States now face an urgent need to address energy costs—and to do so in a lasting way that ensures long-term bill…
Adding Fuel to the Fire: How the Republican Spending Bill Guts Climate and Environmental Justice Programs and Compounds Harm to Communities Across the US
On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law H.R. 1, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”: the massive spending bill that is expected to be the landmark legislative accomplishment of the first year of the President’s second term. The climate, environmental, and energy provisions of H.R. 1 are a concerted…
Heating Up: Higher Utility Bills and Fewer Options for Assistance for Washington & Oregon Customers
It is summer and energy bills are rising along with temperatures, increasing many people’s concerns about keeping the lights—and air conditioning—on. Despite comparatively low electricity rates in the Pacific Northwest fueled by hydroelectric sources, energy costs are rising and the associated financial burden on low-income households is quite high in Oregon and Washington. Meanwhile, federal…
If your organization is working on energy affordability, then we would love to partner with you
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