Many Akron residents live with what’s known as a high energy burden. That means that 6% or more of their income goes toward paying their energy bills.
Interviews conducted late last year by the Akron Innovation Team (one of 25 teams funded in U.S. cities by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Center for Public Innovation) found that:
- One in three opted to keep their homes at an uncomfortable temperature to cut down on utility bills.
- One in four said they “often” or “always” struggle to pay their utility bills.
- Half said their utility bills are the biggest current stressors in their lives.
- 44% said they didn’t even know where to start.
- More than 60% of residents in the West Akron and Sherbondy Hill census fell into severe energy burden status, paying more than 10% of their income toward utility bills.
“Akronites in particular have a severe energy burden,” said Mark Goldenbaum, project manager for the Akron team, who spoke at a Tuesday night community discussion and resource fair about utility affordability hosted by the Akron Urban League.
“People might be getting short-term relief, but they aren’t fixing structural issues that help their home long term,” he said.
Skyrocketing bills are beating down Akron residents
David and Tiffany Noland live in a three-bedroom rental home in West Akron and said their electric bill is almost $400 a month.
“This winter really beat us down,” David Noland said. “It’s just not affordable anymore. It takes two full-time jobs to survive these days.”
Julia Price, who lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Akron’s University Park neighborhood, said her bills have skyrocketed since she first started renting in 2023. She used to pay $63 a month on her electric bill but now pays upward of $200.
The consensus of the team’s findings is that people are struggling to pay their bills — a situation made worse by global events. These include the war in Iran, which has caused gas prices to surge by more than a dollar per gallon since it started Feb. 28.
Free smoke and carbon monoxide detectors available
Sierjie Lash, a district chief with the Akron Fire Department, said during a panel discussion that many residents who turn to alternative means of heating their homes — including using the oven or stove as a heating source — are putting themselves at greater risk. That risk is compounded when homes do not possess working smoke alarms.
“We go into homes all the time where someone may have gotten smoke alarms in the ‘80s, or the ‘90s or the early 2000s; and they haven’t replaced them since,” Lash said. “But it is the law.”
Lash recommends changing smoke detector batteries twice a year. She said swapping them when you spring forward and fall back with daylight savings time changes can be an easy way to remember.
Through the Resources Education and Advocacy for Community Health (REACH) program, the Akron Fire Department can also send a paramedic to evaluate, service or replace smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, regardless of the resident’s income bracket.
REACH can also provide safety handrails for stairs and bathtubs to make a home safer and easier to escape in the event of a fire.
Lightbulbs, locking in energy prices, updating appliances can all help
While energy prices are volatile and heavily influenced by global politics, Scott Towns, energy services manager for the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corp., said there are little things residents can do to chip away at and lower their bills.
“I switched my chandelier in my dining room from five lightbulbs to LEDs and my bill dropped 20 bucks a month,” Towns said. “And that means something; 20 bucks is 20 bucks.”
Towns recommended Apples to Apples, a resource available through Energy Choice Ohio. It compares itemized price options from electric and natural gas providers to help lock in rates. He also directed attendees toward the EANDC’s Electric Partnership Program, or EPP.
EPP is a swap-based appliance system for refrigerators, ovens, electric ranges and dehumidifiers. EPP is limited to one application per address but provides a revolving catalogue of appliances on a five-year basis: When a refrigerator has been owned for five years, it can be swapped out for a brand new one.
Towns warned that anyone who rents from a landlord may not have the officially designated ownership of an appliance that’s required to enroll it into EPP, but he said the EANDC is willing to speak to landlords and try to convince them to hand over ownership to the tenant.
“Freeing up tenants’ appliance bills puts more money in their pockets, which means they pay their rent on time, and that in turn puts more money in [landlords’] pockets,” Towns said.
Payment programs to help keep dollars in your home and pockets
Jolene Lane, director of the Akron Innovation Team, said that 61.5% of the people she interviewed had never had a home energy audit. Goldenbaum, the team’s project manager, said that weatherization support can significantly protect a home from surprise expenses, reducing spending by an annual average of $372.
Pete Sell, director of energy assistance programs at Community Action Akron Summit, recommended that residents struggling to pay their utility bills consider enrolling in a percentage of income payment plan, or PIPP. He said that people who sign up for a PIPP contribute a percentage — he used 5% as an example — of their income as a flat deductible to cover gas and another 5% to cover utilities.
“That puts you at about the severe energy burden threshold,” Sell said.
People with outstanding bills can receive some federal relief through the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) as well.
Crisis programs are available
Community Action Akron Summit also offers crisis programs. While their winter crisis program ended on March 31, Sell said to keep watch for their summer crisis program, which opens in July. The winter crisis program provides gas and utilities assistance like the PIPP, but the summer program does not include gas coverage, Sell said.
Lauren Green-Hull, associate director of Fair Housing Contact Service Inc., said the biggest tip she could offer struggling people is to pay their rent first, since rent is the only program that does not have a dedicated resource attached to it.
“There are resources in our community for utilities, food, clothing and other basic needs that are often underutilized,” Green-Hull said. “It will take some time and it will take some effort, but find and utilize those so that you can keep your cash for rent and mortgage payments.”
