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Project Info COMPLETE Project Title

Low-Income Multifamily Housing Characteristics Study

Project Number ET22SWE0033 Organization SWE (Statewide Electric ETP) End-use Whole Building Sector Residential Project Year(s) 2022 - 2023
Project Results
Based on analysis of a 2021 American Community Survey, nearly a third of California’s low-or-moderate-income (LMI) households live in multifamily buildings – over 90 percent of these households are renters and nearly three-fourths are housing cost burdened (i.e., they spend over 30 percent of their income on housing costs including energy bills). Electrifying and deploying advanced electric technologies to this housing stock without negatively impacting housing and energy costs to tenants is critical to reaching the state’s equitable climate action goals. Policies and programs tailored to this segment’s specific housing characteristics are crucial for achieving fast and scalable building electrification. However, there is insufficient statewide data on the characteristics of low-income multifamily housing. This study will help fill the data gap with analysis of public datasets, input gathered from existing electrification and solar programs, and direct data collection to answer questions that cannot be addressed with currently available data. In addition to a providing general market characterization, this study addresses factors known to be key barriers to electrification in multifamily housing, such as the need for electrical system upgrades (e.g., wiring, circuit panels, service lines), space constraints, and existing water distribution system issues. The study examines the entire low-income multifamily housing market, including subsidized multifamily properties, naturally occurring affordable housing, and market rate multifamily properties with low- income residents.
Project Report Document
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The ETCC is funded in part by ratepayer dollars and the California IOU Emerging Technologies Program, the IOU Codes & Standards Planning & Coordination Subprograms, and the Demand Response Emerging Technologies (DRET) Collaborative programs under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. The municipal portion of this program is funded and administered by Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.