By Jasmine Worles and April Steele, City of Memphis i-team
“My friend told me I’m setting my thermostat too low, but I’m like, ‘How else are we supposed to get it cool in here?’ I just have to deal with the bill because I’ve got to keep my kids comfortable.” — North Memphis resident
We have heard countless stories from Memphians about steep energy costs. If you’ve opened your MLGW bill lately and felt like you were hit with a big number that came from nowhere, you are not alone.
Why are our monthly bills so unaffordable when our electricity rates are 25% lower than the national average?
The story we’ve been telling ourselves about high utility costs may be missing one of the biggest contributing factors: Nearly 80% of Memphis area homes were built prior to 1950, before energy codes even existed. Before insulation requirements. Before modern HVAC systems. These older homes leak air in the winter and trap heat in the summer, forcing our systems to run longer and work harder to keep up.
When the Memphis Innovation Team, known as the i-team, asked residents about climate resilience, we heard their message loud and clear: Energy costs have Memphians hot, literally and figuratively.
In Shelby County, two of every five households experience a high rate of energy burden, defined as the percentage of household income spent on utilities. Anything higher than 6% is considered extreme.
The rates of energy burden in Memphis are the highest in the nation.
And the problem is spread unevenly across the city. For more than 40 years, poverty in the city has been concentrated in North and South Memphis. Families in these predominantly Black neighborhoods are paying 5% to 9% of their income on energy costs, more than double the citywide average. This means that residents living in some of the oldest housing in Memphis also have had the fewest resources to make repairs or update their heating and cooling systems.
An old house, a hot summer and insufficient funds to fix what’s broken make the perfect recipe for a high energy bill.
The i-team has been working to help city officials tackle the intersecting issues of aging properties, poverty and deferred maintenance that have been eating away at our homes and wallets.
But systems are slow to change, and residents need help now.
At our EmPOWER the Block, a pop-up community event in May aimed at addressing high energy burdens, the city brought energy-efficiency resources into a South Memphis neighborhood where more than 350 people showed up. Nearly 9 in 10 event attendees told us they learned something valuable that day.
“(This event) means that our community members will get an opportunity to experience what’s available in terms of energy savings,” said Ron Miles, a member of the Magnolia Castalia Community Association.
That response told us something important. Residents want to do more than vent about their bills. They want to know what, if anything, is within their control.
The i-team recommends a few low-cost measures most people can do themselves:
- Seal air leaks around your home and install weatherstripping around doors and windows, which can save you up to 15% on heating and cooling costs.
- Install a programmable or smart thermostat, which can cut heating and cooling bills by 10% to 15%.
- Take care of your HVAC system by replacing filters every two to three months and conducting seasonal tune-ups in the spring and fall to keep your system working efficiently.
Still, none of these measures will fix the problem if a home needs a new roof or other major repairs. But the city is working to address these issues too.
For years, the city’s federally funded weatherization program had to turn away more than two-thirds of applicants because their homes needed major repairs before energy-efficiency improvements could begin. To address that gap, the city’s Division of Housing and Community Development recently piloted the Residential Repair and Rehabilitation Assistance Program, which prioritizes structural repairs so residents can then access weatherization services.
The i-team is also focused on making housing quality and preservation a priority alongside infill development to help achieve Memphis Mayor Paul Young’s goal of 10,000 new or rehabbed homes by 2030. As part of the effort, a digital catalog is being created for housing resources and a “one front door” approach with weatherization partners such as MLGW and TVA is being considered to help residents reduce the hassle of figuring out which programs to access.
For contractors, we’re partnering with the Memphis Area Minority Contractors Association to launch the Builder Bench Accelerator Pilot, a capacity-building program to help firms navigate complex government procurement processes and expand the ecosystem of local companies.
Developers have the opportunity to build homes that look good on the outside and are made with quality materials on the inside — homes that are comfortable, enduring, and more efficient and affordable for everyday living.
On Saturday, Nov. 14, EmPOWER the Block will pop up in the Klondike-Smokey City neighborhood at Klondike Park, 1235 Brown Ave., from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. to provide hands-on workshops and help residents learn ways to save energy and lower their utility costs.
