Texas Energy Poverty Profiles Project
Project Directors: Heath J. Prince and Dana Harmon
Date: April 2019
Publication Type: Policy Research Project Report, 204 pp.

Abstract: Energy poverty describes a condition faced by many Americans in which the personal cost of energy consumption needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle creates a significant economic hardship. The Texas State Data Center estimates that low-income households spend on average 12.5% of their income on home energy costs, versus the 4.0% spent by higher income households, and energy burdens grow more acute with more severe poverty – up to 31%.

By this definition, nearly 1 in 4 low and moderate-income (LMI) Texans experience energy poverty. Texas is home to 9.4 million LMI energy customers, and high energy burdens lead to difficult tradeoffs of essential needs – forcing families to choose between paying utility bills, paying rent or mortgage, and putting food on the table.

In 2017, the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute (TEPRI) published Energy Poverty Research Landscape Analysis, which revealed that reinventing energy consumer engagement is the most glaring and broadly agreed upon opportunity to improve energy service to LMI consumers. Most studies, however, convey that not enough is known about how the power sector should effectively engage LMI consumers, from needs assessment to program design – this is a gap that this research aims to address.

This study, the Texas Low-Income Profile Project, provides a detailed understanding of Texas LMI residents and their relationships to energy. We address this issue in a robust manner with the goal of helping frame future strategic decision-making processes for stakeholders in Texas – utilities, regulators, policy makers, non-profits, and service providers.

Funding for this project was generously provided by the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute, an organization dedicated to inspiring lasting energy solutions for low-income communities.

Texas Integrated Child Support System: Final Evaluation Report

Authors:  Daniel Schroeder and Ashweeta Patnaik
Date:  August 2016
Publication Type:  Report, 113pp.

In 1995, the Texas Legislature authorized the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to improve child support services statewide through the creation of an Integrated Child Support System (ICSS) wherein the OAG may provide IV-D child support enforcement services under contract with counties that elect to participate in the system.  The OAG sought and was granted a waiver from the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) of the requirement for a written application for IV-D services in participating ICSS counties.  The waiver was renewed several times, but with the last approval the OAG was required to have the program independently evaluated.  The OAG contracted with the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources (RMC) to design and conduct an evaluation to measure the impacts of ICSS, the results of which are included in this final report.

The Ray Marshall Center conducted the ICSS waiver evaluation using a combination of random assignment and composite pre-post evaluation designs to measure the impacts of the waiver at the county level.  The evaluation relied primarily on OAG administrative records data, Unemployment Insurance (UI) wage records, public assistance administrative records data, U.S. Bureau of the Census data, and other sources.  These were used for estimating net impacts and for identifying relevant factors that may influence or be associated with the observed impacts.  A process study provided a sufficient understanding of the structure and functioning of ICSS as implemented in order to accurately estimate the impacts of the waiver.