Aspen Policy Academy

The “Right to Cool” for Washington

By Alyssa Poletti

The State of Washington’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a federally funded program that helps provide energy assistance to low-income households. Though the State’s LIHEAP office collects race and ethnicity data on households, these data are not available to community and advocacy groups, making it difficult for them to understand whether communities of color are being adequately served by LIHEAP. These policy briefs propose new data reporting and evaluation policies to help the State better ensure it is serving its vulnerable communities.

These briefs were completed as part of a project for the 2022 Climate Cohort, a program to teach environmental experts how to impact policy.

View the LIHEAP Policy Brief
View the Department of Commerce Policy Brief