Ben Nathan

Topical Expertise Demand-side management (DSM)Electric vehicle (EV) programsEnergy efficiency programsEnergy equityRenewable energy programs

About the Author

Ben Nathan leads E Source's research and advisement to utilities on energy affordability and equity. He specializes in identifying and sharing leading strategies and fostering collaborations to assist utility industry clients in their efforts to better serve income-qualified and other vulnerable populations. Before he joined E Source, Ben worked at the US Department of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Renewable Energy Lab, where he assisted federal, state and local government, and tribal partners in clean energy planning and air and water protection.

Insight

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6 ways community partnerships can boost LMI customer enrollment in weatherization programs

Low- and moderate-income (LMI) customers are interested in utility weatherization programs, but participation in this customer group is often low because of a lack of awareness, complicated enrollment processes, and financial, structural, and institutional barriers.There’s a lot of room

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Equity and the utility customer: Highlights from 2023 customer survey findings

Equity is at the nexus of the relationship between customers living in frontline communities and their local utility. And findings from two of our E Source Affordability and Equity annual surveys emphasized that point. The surveys aimed to probe further into what frontline customers and

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5 creative approaches to utility payment assistance programs

Coming out of the COVID economy and into an inflationary one has left a lot of utilities with a lot of debt, as many low- and moderate-income (LMI) customers have struggled to keep up to date with payments. Managing arrears while maintaining flexibility for struggling customers is a balancing

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Strategic perspectives on managing the affordability challenge

More than 60% of low- and moderate-income (LMI) households in the US face a high energy burden, with some paying more than 20% of their income on their utility bills. Many LMI customers report trouble paying their bills or forgoing other household needs to pay their bills, with almost a third