Cold Power: Energy and Public Housing

Abstract

The United States Housing Act of 1937 created a regulatory scheme whereby the federal government provides utility allowances to local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). In 1984, HUD promulgated regulations which granted PHAs the authority to establish utility allowances independent of any federal standards. Energy inefficiency and waste, however, continued to plague the vast public housing sector, compounding the burden imposed upon the poor by the general rise in energy costs.

This Article reviews the history of public housing energy regulations and argues that they have actually contributed to the present energy inefficiency of the public housing stock. This article:

· examines the federal attempt to regulate the construction and thermal quality of public housing over the last three decades

· examines federal regulation of utility meter conversions and fuel choices, as well as the judicial limitations placed upon the resulting administrative discretion

· analyzes the complex federal-local interrelationship which forms the framework for public housing energy regulation-including subsidies, performance incentives, and appliance procurement practices

· analyzes the utility allowance link between local public housing authorities and tenants

and explores the impact of federal regulatory changes on this relationship

The article, based on the above factors, proposes an innovative program of action whereby housing authorities may exploit the recent HUD deregulation of utility allowances to finance the investments necessary to increase energy efficiency in public housing. See also Professor Ferrey’s related article published at Harvard: “In From The Cold: Energy Efficiency And The Reform of Hud's Utility Allowance System,” 32 Harvard Journal on Legislation 145, 1995.