Nelly Aghaei

Background: This article reports on a survey of residents in two northern, rural counties in Michigan’s Western Upper Peninsula. The survey was part of a larger community-engaged research project supporting procedural, distributional, and recognition justice, and it was designed to explore reported experiences of energy burdens, energy service access needs, and public health concerns. Methods: A total of 176 residents were surveyed in two neighboring counties, one of which hosts a bioenergy facility associated with local concerns regarding air pollution and health impacts. Data were analyzed using nonparametric statistical methods. Results: A large proportion of the respondents (almost 25% across the full sample) reported experiencing severe energy burdens, which is particularly concerning given the sample’s overrepresentation of higher-income households relative to county populations. Respondents also reported clear energy service needs. Residents in the county hosting the bioenergy facility reported higher energy burdens, greater perceived impacts from air pollution, and were more likely to identify industrial sources and power plants as causes of local air pollution. Higher-income residents in that county were also more likely to report the combination of air pollution concern, perceived health impacts, and related symptoms. Discussion: Findings highlight dynamics of vulnerability and privilege that may represent unique features of rural community residents’ experiences of energy injustice. Notably, higher-income residents near the bioenergy facility were more likely to recognize and report air pollution health impacts than lower-income residents, a pattern that warrants further attention in energy social science and environmental justice research. Conclusions: Findings suggest an opportunity for future inquiry into the perceptual dimensions of privilege and vulnerability in rural communities hosting energy infrastructure, where material and environmental burdens as well as perception and awareness may not be equitably distributed.

Recent geographic shifts in high-tech labor markets have redirected attention toward economic growth in small cities and rural regions across the United States. We examine how this shift has spurred economic development organizations, think tanks, and rural municipalities to leverage digital data in local economies as a strategic tool for attracting investment. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research on rural development policy and practice, we turn to the design of a new type of development tool: the digital asset map. In this paper, we describe how nationwide mapping and data visualization initiatives push for the digitization of rural community-based asset data, from broadband infrastructure to breweries. While these systems are intended to promote sustainable rural development, and to help leaders in their efforts to repopulate and revitalize rural communities in decline, their design often encourages comparison across communities in ways that reify divides between the rural “haves” and “have-nots”. By privileging quantifiable data, digital asset maps risk marginalizing communities whose strengths are less easily captured in datasets, potentially reinforcing existing patterns of uneven rural development.

This paper reports on an ongoing study of energy services in rural, northern U.S. communities. Anchored in case studies across three northern states, the research aims to understand how residents experience energy service access. These case studies were selected for their shared histories of resource extraction and inclusion of Tribal Nations within each community. Using an online survey, the study finds that residents of these rural northern communities report facing high energy burdens, with 26% of households reporting that they spend over 10% of their income on energy costs. Energy burden varies across the three case study communities in correlation with energy costs. Heating remains predominantly dependent on fossil fuels, with only 4.6% of households utilizing heat pumps, which offer a more energy‐efficient method of heat production using electricity. Cooling demand is currently being met by inefficient systems, including central and window air conditioners. Low‐income households bear a disproportionate share of these challenges, exacerbated by poor housing insulation and reports of more frequent power outages. Acknowledging the distinct histories and needs of rural northern communities with post‐extractive legacies represents a form of recognition justice and requires future energy decisions to be responsive to their unique needs and vulnerabilities.