In 2020, around 36 million people in the EU were unable to keep their homes adequately warm. However, the number of EU citizens that can be considered “energy poor” is much higher if all the different aspects around energy poverty are taken into account, such as being unable to cover basic housing costs or having inadequate comfort in the housing or work environments. All this can negatively affect people’s health. The recent surge in energy prices and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis are likely to have worsened the already difficult situation of vulnerable households.
What is ‘energy poverty’?
Energy poverty results from a combination of low income, a high share of disposable income spent on energy and from poor energy efficiency, especially in buildings. It covers situations of economic difficulties like the incapacity to pay the energy bills, or insulation problems, such as the lack of access to materials that keep the household warm in winter or fresh in summer.
In most cases, energy poverty results of a combination of diverse factors with serious implications for the health, wellbeing, social inclusion and quality of life of affected citizens. Consequently, tackling energy poverty can significantly improve the lives of vulnerable consumers and benefit EU societies at large.
EU policies to tackle energy poverty
While EU countries have their own approach to addressing poverty issues, the European Commission has increased the focus on the concept of energy poverty in the past decade. And reducing energy poverty has been given greater prominence in EU energy efficiency, decarbonisation and clean energy transition policies in recent years.
In the 2019 Clean energy for all Europeans package, the EU committed to protecting vulnerable consumers and made energy poverty a policy priority. The package also introduced the instrument of National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), whereby all EU countries outline 10-year national plans to address the different energy and climate targets. This includes requirements to measure energy poverty and to tackle it wherever it is identified. This includes protecting vulnerable energy customers and proposing suitable measures to mitigate it in different contexts.
The European Green Deal, the EU’s overarching growth plan to reach climate neutrality by 2050, also stresses the need to integrate the goal of mitigating energy poverty and support a just energy transition for all (‘leaving no one behind’). Several EU countries have already integrated targeted measures in their national strategies and are developing their own definitions, measurement and monitoring methods and solutions to tackle energy poverty. In particular, the Renovation Wave strategy, presented in 2020, has tackling energy poverty and worst performing buildings amongst its 3 focus areas for action. The aim of doubling the rate of renovation is taken up in more concrete form in the Commission’s legislative proposals to revise the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the broader Energy Efficiency Directive.
In October 2021, the European Commission published a toolbox of measures proposing actions that EU countries can take to tackle the rising energy prices and protect consumers and businesses. Some of these include measures to reduce energy costs for all energy end-users and to avoid disconnections from the energy grid, as well as state aids to companies or industries to weather the crisis.
Examples of EU support
As part of the 2018 call for research projects on energy efficiency as part of the Horizon 2020 research framework programme, around €6 million were granted to 3 projects addressing energy poverty - namely STEP (Solutions to Tackle Energy Poverty), EmpowerMed and SocialWat. These projects aim to alleviate energy poverty working with key actors, including utilities, consumer organisations and consumers. They also share best practices at local level to replicate successful schemes and issue policy recommendations.
Data collection and monitoring
Addressing energy poverty has become a priority for public governments and the EU, and requires combined efforts in all echelons of governance – from the European to the local level – to be effective.
Data compiled at national level allows policy-makers to grasp the full dimension of the problem per EU country. It is often the central services that have the overview and access to the necessary tools for that purpose. However, analysis and assessments at regional and local level are equally important. They can provide more insightful perspectives and measures to unveil vulnerabilities and situations affecting specific parts of the population. For this reason, tailored local actions and national policy frameworks need to go hand in hand.
Local governments are putting great efforts into addressing the social, economic and institutional dimensions of energy poverty. This is a complex exercise as it poses a number of structural challenges, such as properly diagnosing the situation on the ground, planning the most effective response measures and implementing these through concrete actions.
Any sound policy-making needs to be based on facts. Measuring and monitoring are essential steps to understanding and assessing energy poverty and to developing efficient evidence-based policies to tackle it. Energy poverty poses multi-dimensional challenges due to its private nature – it mainly affects households – and its complexity, influenced by factors such as geographical location and time periods. For these reasons, experts have so far been divided on the identification of suitable indicators and metrics to measure energy poverty.
The Energy Poverty Advisory Hub
The Energy Poverty Advisory Hub (EPAH) is the leading EU initiative to address the matter. It constitutes a collaborative network of stakeholders aiming to eradicate energy poverty and accelerate the just energy transition of European local governments. Through a bottom-up approach, the EPAH provides assistance for the integration of the energy poverty perspective in urban spatial and energy planning, and contributes to mainstreaming local actions supported by national policy frameworks.
As a continuation of the work previously carried out by the Energy Poverty Observatory, the EPAH has brought its operational and practical expertise into practice through the development of local energy and climate plans to ensure a just energy transition. Through its collaboration with the Covenant of Mayors, whose signatories have committed to act on energy poverty, the EPAH is actively supporting the Covenant’s commitment to ensure affordable, secure and sustainable energy across their municipalities.
The EPAH provides several resources to guide stakeholders in the implementation of concrete actions to tackle energy poverty
- reports, practical step-by-step handbooks and practices and policies toolkit
- the EPAH ATLAS, an online interactive database that allows stakeholders to discover local and international projects and measures addressing energy poverty worldwide
- online courses to increase knowledge and build capacity on energy poverty
- calls for technical assistance to directly assist local governments in their steps to tackle energy poverty
The EPAH support desk can be contacted for any questions related to energy poverty or for support at info
energypoverty [dot] eu (info[at]energypoverty[dot]eu).
Related links
Details
- Publication date
- 16 February 2022
- Author
- Directorate-General for Energy
- Location
- Brussels