A Discussion of Energy Poverty and Energy Injustice in The Case of Texas, U.S.

Yinghua He

doi:10.54097/hbem.v5i.5005

Authors

Yinghua He

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/hbem.v5i.5005

Keywords:

Energy Burden, Energy Injustice, Energy Poverty, Local Indicators of Spatial Autocorrelation, Spatial Analysis.

Abstract

Insufficient access to modern energy resources is a crucial issue in the development of a country. Plenty of resources were devoted to measuring energy poverty, but the equality of energy access within regions is largely ignored, especially on the county-by-county level with spill-over effect analysis. This paper begins with data related to Texas household demographics and spatial distribution to construct a quantitative measurement of energy burden and energy injustice, in the case of Texas. Moran’s Index and local indicators of spatial correlation (LISA) were utilized to analyze the relationships between energy-burdened counties and their locations. Then, the spatial error model (SEM) was introduced to evaluate the spatial dependence in the error term. A statistically significant result regarding energy injustice and demographic characteristics within Texas was confirmed. The result has crucial implications regarding assessing Texas energy injustice on a county level and recognizing the factors contributing to the energy burden. The methodology and concept can be expanded into similar topics of interest.

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