'Because You Got to Have Heat' : Energy Poverty and Weatherization in Eastern North Carolina

Abstract

Energy poverty is the condition in which a household is unable to maintain its indoor temperature at a level that allows for a healthy or comfortable lifestyle. Much energy poverty literature has examined the problem solely as a matter of incomes, an approach that fails to recognize the various actors, networks, and relationships that assemble to create energy poverty. In this thesis I have partnered with WAGES, Inc., a community action agency that administers the Weatherization Assistance Program in Greene, Lenoir, and Wayne counties in North Carolina. Through this partnership I have been able to collect and analyze data using a mix of methodologies, including in-depth interviews, GIS mapping, and analysis of the WAGES recipient database. My findings attempt to trace the complex linkages between the individual biographies of households, the landscapes of energy provision, and the materiality of the house itself, and to show how these interdependent domains assemble in a way that causes suffering for the energy poor. Finally, I show how the Weatherization Assistance Program is helping energy poor households make a positive change in their lives, and, building on these findings, make suggestions for policy improvements to help alleviate energy poverty.