The City of Milwaukee has been using GEM with their Climate and Equity Task Force to study energy burden and how they can deliver a robust climate transition for People of Color. In Milwaukee's American Rescue Plan Act proposal for Milwaukee's Recovery and Resilience Plan, Mayor Tom Barrett mentions how they’re using GEM to track energy burden among Black and Latino residents in the City of Milwaukee!
The plan proposes an energy efficiency fund of $5 million for their Affordable and Sustainable Housing category. The purpose of this project would be to assist households struggling with energy bills by reducing their energy costs through energy saving retrofits such as insulation and HVAC systems. The project will focus on households in qualified census tracts with the highest energy disparities as identified by GEM data.
We also recently published a report on the City of Milwaukee's successes with decreasing their energy burdens over time from 2013-2018. To download the report, go here.
For more information on how the City of Milwaukee is using GEM, contact Erick Shambarger at eshamb@milwaukee.gov.
Photo by Tom Barrett