Energy costs can imperil Black homeownership. DC legislation could help

Black homeownership in DC is in crisis. In 2021, the homeownership rate for Black households was just 35%, compared to 50% for white, non-Hispanic households, leading Mayor Muriel Bowser to create a $10 million dollar fund and establish the Black homeownership strike force in 2022.

Real estate prices, lending practices, and zoning laws rightfully received a lot of attention from the strike force, but the racial gap in the District’s homeownership rate cannot be closed just by making it more affordable for Black families to buy homes. There needs to be an equal focus on making it more affordable to retain ownership of them.

Many of the city’s oldest buildings are in neighborhoods that are predominantly Black. These homes, which often have inefficient gas-powered equipment and inadequate weatherization and insulation, are increasingly expensive to keep warm during the winter and cool during the summer.

Many Black homeowners, especially elderly residents, can’t afford the up-front costs of repair, maintenance, and retrofits, but also can’t afford to keep paying the energy bill for their drafty homes. In the end, it’s often cheaper and easier just to sell in “as-is” condition—sometimes, under duress. By providing upgraded appliances and more energy efficient homes, the Healthy Homes Act will help long-time residents stay in their homes.

What would the Healthy Homes Act mean for DC residents?

The Healthy Homes Act, legislation before the DC Council that would help 30,000 low-income households upgrade their homes with clean energy, would be a leg up for thousands of residents who live in homes needing repairs and the high energy bills that come with such homes. The legislation would fund energy-efficient equipment, such as heat pumps, a move that can save residents anywhere from $500–$1,000 per year on their utility bills, while providing life-saving heating and cooling for many buildings that lack adequate HVAC systems. It would also cover the cost of much-needed repairs, electrical upgrades, and insulation.

In 2022, the Black Homeownership Strike Force urged Mayor Bowser to coordinate work being done by the District’s Department of Housing and Community Development, Department of Energy and Environment, and Department of Aging and Community Living with relevant nonprofit programs to ensure that “major repairs are completed for all homeowners including co-ops and condos, while also providing financial support and technical assistance to Black homeowners in rehabilitating their homes.”

Improving weatherization and insulation in older buildings is a more subtle change than installing brand-new furnaces, water heaters and clothes dryers, but doing so can have a huge impact on energy affordability. An analysis in New Jersey found that households in drafty homes heated with gas can save anywhere from 47% to 69% on annual energy bills by improving weatherization and switching to efficient electric equipment. By removing the high up-front cost barriers to these kinds of retrofits, the District can unlock huge cost savings for Black homeowners and reduce energy burdens across DC.

The Healthy Homes Act can also help free thousands of low-income households from the threat of rising gas rates. Washington Gas customers have faced years of volatile fossil fuel prices driving up their monthly energy bills. On top of that, Washington Gas wants to pour billions of dollars on gas pipeline spending projects, paid for by customers, driving gas bills to unaffordable heights. If approved by the Public Service Commission, DC’s lackluster utility regulator, gas customers in the District would be on the hook to pay back the entire cost of Washington Gas’s fossil fuel pipeline replacement project, plus interest and a healthy profit margin for the company, a total that is estimated to balloon up to $14 billion.

A win for housing affordability, health, and air quality

Upgrading to clean energy isn’t just about economics. Eliminating methane gas and powering our homes with electricity will remove major sources of indoor and outdoor air pollution, which exacerbate existing health disparities in our communities. When burned indoors, gas appliances emit nitrogen oxides, a cocktail of poisonous gases that can harm human health, and emit benzene, a carcinogen associated with leukemia, at rates higher than secondhand smoke.

Not only do children living in homes with gas stoves have a 42% higher risk of developing asthma symptoms, gas stove use is attributed to 12.7% of childhood asthma cases nationwide. The pollution that is vented outside homes from gas heating equipment can lead to the formation of ozone pollution or smog, which can trigger asthma attacks and shortness of breath in the short term while leading to long term respiratory, cardiovascular, and developmental harm.

Knocking out a major source of this pollution can help begin to reduce health disparities and make it easier to breathe for thousands of residents. The District has the highest asthma prevalence of any US city, with more than 10% of District residents having an asthma diagnosis. Of the nearly 16,000 children in DC with asthma, more than 70% are Black, and more than 65% use public health insurance.

There are so many reasons to support the modernization of our homes as an urgent public policy priority. That’s why more than 80 people testified in support of the Healthy Homes Act in May 2023. Fortunately, progress is already underway: A $2 million pilot program is helping homeowners upgrade to clean energy in the Deanwood and River Terrace neighborhoods in Ward 7. This program offers a local snapshot of what the Healthy Homes Act could help to achieve across the District.

Thanks to ongoing funding in DC’s budget, we can begin the work to ensure residents across the District enjoy the economic and health benefits of highly efficient, pollution-free homes across the District. It’s up to the DC Council to get this legislation across the finish line and pass the Healthy Homes Act into law. The future of Black homeownership depends on it.