Frequently Asked Questions

Where did the data for this project come from?

Electricity use and cost data:

Ameren and Evergy utilities provided the electricity use and cost data.

Gas use and cost data:

Spire utility provided the gas use and cost data.

Demographic data:

• EPA's EJScreen (Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool)

• Low-Income Energy Affordability Data - LEAD Tool (2018 Update)

Energy burden data:

Energy burden data was calculated using the electricity and gas cost data, where present, and the household income data from the LEAD data. Where cost data for both electricity and gas were not available, energy burden from the LEAD data was used.

Health data:

The Missouri Department of Health provided the health data.

How are the energy use and cost ranges on the chart calculated?

The ranges indicate the middle 50% range of all census tracts in the available data set. This is also called the "interquartile range" or "IQR".