Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

The United States is gradually transitioning from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable energy sources. Although moving towards the use of more renewable and lower-carbon energy sources and technologies has many environmental benefits, such changes may have negative consequences for portions of the population. Some members of the community may face higher energy costs due to the energy transition or have decreased employment opportunities; others may lack access to the benefits of renewable and other low-carbon energy technologies. Cities may use different policies and practices to help protect vulnerable populations from these harms or help them have greater access to the benefits of the energy transition.

This paper uses results from a survey of city-level officials to understand their perceptions of the energy transition and their cities’ efforts to protect segments of the population who may suffer from this transition. Prior work has proven that the energy transition has had uneven effects on communities in terms of higher energy costs and employment. Much still needs to be understood, however, about the energy transition’s effect on vulnerable communities and what can be done to ease this transition. Determining the salience of the issue among city officials and the practices cities apply to help residents cope is critical because local governments are in a prominent position to aid their constituents during this transition. Through a survey conducted in partnership with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), city managers were asked about their perceptions of whether the effects of the energy transition were being felt in their communities and about different services their city provides that could potentially help their communities adapt.

Our objective is to determine what drives city officials to adopt policies that help those negatively affected by the energy transition. To address this question, we combine our survey data with secondary data to formally test the relationship between the provision of programs to residents that help them adapt to the energy transition and city manager perceptions of the energy transition, city partnerships, city planning processes, motivations, barriers, and other concerns that the city faces. We control for the tenure of the city manager, population size, income levels, educational attainment, racial composition of the city, number of heating and cooling days, and city budget. In our presentation, we will discuss the results of this effort and draw policy recommendations about the ways cities can help their citizens adapt to the energy transition. The results of this work can be used to expand city-officials awareness of the issues and solutions regarding the energy transition.

This research’s goal of developing an understanding of how the negative effects of the energy transition are being addressed by cities matches with the aims of the conference to engage diverse perspectives on issues and evidence for them. In addition, this work helps fill the broader need to determine how communities can best protect vulnerable populations while society is in the process of lowering its carbon footprint.