Energy affordability is not just about the cost of living but also about wealth inequality, racialized exclusion, and institutional mistrust, which require a deliberate strategy toward shared prosperity.
Energy affordability is not about not having enough energy, but democratically deciding how much is enough as a society.
Authors: Denise G. Fairchild, Ph.D. and Selena Feliciano Energy affordability is as much a feature of culture as of technology; we need a reorientation towards energy commons. Introduction Elections are often won or lost on pocketbook issues. The price of gas, groceries, and housing regularly dominates political debate. Utility
By Elena Krieger, PhD. Utility bills are soaring across the country and the need to address energy affordability is becoming increasingly pressing. The conversation, however, is often missing an important part of the equation: the gas that 74 million U.S. households use for heating, hot water, and cooking. [1]
By Aiko Schaefer This month marks our 5th anniversary. What a roller coaster it has been! Just Solutions began amid a once-in-a-generation pandemic, escalating climate impacts, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. I, along with our board, believing in the power of communities and self-determination, began working
By Elena Krieger, PhD. The data are in: nationwide, household electricity prices rose nearly twice as fast as inflation last year. Across the United States, average residential electricity prices increased 5% between 2024 and 2025, according to data just released from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.1 The inflation
By Rich Stolz One year into President Trump’s second term, there is a breathtaking attack on fundamental civil liberties underway in Minnesota. The public outcry over the killings of two protestors by immigration agents has forced a reckoning about the strategy and tactics being used in Trump’s mass
By Brandon Dawson Across the US, communities are facing fast-moving energy affordability crises while navigating an increasingly complex policy landscape. Yet many solutions already exist, developed through the organizing, advocacy, and ingenuity of communities across the country. Now more than ever, it is critical to leverage what we know works
Join us for Season 3 of the Just Solutions Podcast! This season we are bringing you relevant and personable conversations with guests to make sense of what is going on in and around the US, in particular the impacts of the federal attacks and rollbacks, and what people are doing
By Crystal Bernard Across Michigan, community groups have been doing what they have always done: organizing, creating, and caring for one another in the face of crisis. From Detroit to Marquette, local environmental justice leaders have been turning federal investments into tangible neighborhood projects. Michiganders have shown they are ready
By Brandon Dawson Just Solutions recently hosted our first National Energy Affordability Convening, a two-day virtual strategy space that brought together more than 20 leaders from state-based climate justice coalitions and organizations across California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Washington. Together, we explored how to make energy affordable, reliable,
An analysis of which states will be hardest hit and the financial impact By Elena Krieger, PhD. As the federal shutdown continues into its second month, households across the country are facing a looming crisis with uncertain funding for food and heating assistance—just as the weather is turning cold.
By Sylvia Chi On September 22, 2025, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) closed its comment period for its proposal to rescind the “endangerment finding,” a scientific determination issued by the agency in 2009 enabling it to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. EPA proposed rescinding the endangerment finding on July
By Elena Krieger, PhD. States face an urgent need to address energy costs—and to do so in a lasting way that ensures long-term bill savings and continues to accelerate the transition to a clean energy future. Across the country, households are struggling to pay for mounting energy bills. Georgia
By Arjun Makhijani, PhD Unaffordable energy bills impact all of society—including those who can afford to regularly pay their own bills. The direct impacts of unaffordable energy for families experiencing economic stress include ill-health, hunger, utility shutoffs and even evictions because of their inability to pay all the monthly
By Jennifer Moon, PhD. & Brandon Dawson States and localities are leading the way towards holding fossil fuel interests accountable for the climate damage they cause. They are sending a message that communities will not bear the costs for the harm caused by others. Whether it’s through legislation related
Electricity Price Increases Hit Some Regions Harder Than Others—But Methane Gas Has Gone up Nearly Everywhere By Elena Krieger, PhD. Across the U.S., households are struggling to afford rising electricity and methane gas bills, but some regions are facing much more dramatic price increases than others. Countrywide, average
President Trump is leveraging the full power of the federal government to implement a massive deportation program. This dragnet is eroding due process, expanding surveillance of communities, threatening political speech, and is being used as a false justification to deploy military assets into American cities over the objections of local
By Sylvia Chi A new analysis by Just Solutions reveals how the recently passed federal reconciliation bill changes policy, how much funding it rescinds for climate and environmental justice programs, and the drastic impacts on environmental protection and climate investments for environmental justice and frontline communities across the US. On
Just Solutions Launches New National Effort to Support Our State Partners August 5, 2025 - For tens of millions of households, the energy bill isn’t just another expense: it determines if the lights stay on or the fridge keeps medicine cold. And in communities across the country, the squeeze
Read our report on the extreme variability in how a state may face limited climate impacts one year and billions of dollars in damage the next—and how the scale of this impact compares to individual state expenditures and their ability to respond. By Elena Krieger, PhD. Climate disasters are
Just Solutions, as our name implies, is grounded in a fundamental belief that the best solutions come from communities because we know what is best for ourselves. In a democracy, our responsibility is to debate and discuss differences of opinion, with constitutional rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.
By Alvaro Sanchez Those of us who care about building a healthy, thriving, and prosperous future are reeling. The Trump administration's attacks on our people and our planet plus the outright evisceration of government by Elon Musk and his corporate army are forcing us to reflect on how
By Sylvia Chi Among the flurry of Executive Orders (EOs) issued by President Donald Trump in the first days of his second term, the two EOs that claim to target “illegal and immoral” Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) activities appear to have significantly influenced the Administration’s approach to administering