Who Benefits? Rethinking the Distribution of Harms and Benefits in the U.S. Energy Transition

Abstract

A transformative energy transition is underway that has important environmental and economic implications from local to global scales. It is the object of robust social science research examining a wide range of topics. Increasingly, researchers are examining current and potential impacts of the transition on the distribution of harms and risks. Until now, social science assessments have concentrated on identifying and mitigating negative effects on vulnerable populations from the existing energy regime, often overlooking the distribution of benefits that could further exacerbate existing inequalities. We propose a methodology that measures key risks and harms of modern reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear power but also is able to assess the allocation of benefits from the transition to renewable energy and conservation in order to meet societal needs. This framework incorporates existing screening tools (including those used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) to identify at-risk communities from energy-related air and water pollution and associated health stressors, but extends their application to analyses of market- and policy-driven distributions of benefits from change to renewables and conservation, asking “Who Benefits?” A case study of fast-growing solar energy use is offered to illustrate how this method can assess the distribution of benefits to socially and environmentally at-risk communities to those who are in varying degrees environmentally and socially secure. The impact of a key policy tool – solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) – used to rapidly expand solar energy investment- is mapped as a means to answer the question “Who Benefits?”

Keywords: environmental justice, EJSCREEN, solar renewable energy credit (SREC), economic development, energy justice, Justice40, energy transition