This study, commissioned by the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy (Directorate B — Just Transition, Consumers, Energy Security, Efficiency and Innovation Unit B.1 — Consumers, Local Initiatives, Just Transition) and authored by IEECP, E3M, Trinomics, and Wuppertal Institut, provides an in-depth understanding of the landscape of energy poverty and subsequent indicators used at the European Union (EU) and Member State (MS) level. The aim of this study is to inform and improve how energy poverty policies are designed and implemented across the EU and at all levels of governance.
In 2022, 9.3% of the European Union (EU) population were unable to keep their home warm, according to Eurostat and the Energy Poverty Advisory Hub (EPAH). Still, the actual number of people affected could be significantly higher. Energy poverty is a complex and longstanding challenge broadly defined as a situation in which households suffer from a “lack of access to essential energy services that underpin a decent standard of living and health, including adequate warmth, cooling lighting, and energy to power appliances, in the relevant national context.”
In the absence of a standard EU definition of energy poverty up to June 2022, each Member State (MS) developed their own criteria for identifying, measuring and addressing (or not) the problem, according to their national context. Despite the diverging approaches, a mix of contextual and personal factors can offer a more informed understanding of the drivers.
Overall, three main causes of energy poverty have been identified as structural. These are: low-income, high-energy bills, and inefficient buildings.
This study aims at shedding light on the landscape of energy poverty and subsequent indicators used at EU and MS levels. Through a thorough identification of relevant data sources and datasets and an exhaustive analysis of datasets and indicators based on a number of evaluation criteria – including the accuracy, frequency, robustness, availability and use in policy – the assignment evaluated how these have been applied in the national context so far, whether they have contributed to alleviating the burden off the shoulders of energy-poor households and what changes are needed to allow moving towards a new, comprehensive EU energy poverty reporting and measuring landscape by 2025.
The work establishes a holistic understanding of energy poverty, its definition and reporting, by also analysing in depth the currently submitted and forthcoming national energy and climate plan (NECP) documents but also other reporting relevant to energy poverty (both, reporting to the Commission and national reporting) such as the Territorial Just Transition Plans, the Long-term renovation strategies
(LTRSs) and more. This study covers all EU27 Member States and captures how existing indicators are used in reporting on energy poverty. The analysis covers existing energy poverty indicators and datasets but also new ones, as well as local sources of information to assess energy poverty. In order to achieve this and provide policy makers and readers with a comprehensive view of the state of energy poverty reporting and measuring, our work covers the following streams.
- First the study identifies, maps and presents collected data that are relevant to the energy poverty monitoring and measuring, including also new types of data, available at a national and EU-level and performs exhaustive data analysis and evaluation of examined datasets and indicators to allow for a consistent data evaluation in terms of availability, robustness, frequency, accuracy, policy relevance and more. Then, the data/indicators are prioritized in terms of their usefulness, while considering national and local characteristics.
- As a second workstream, the study provides a comprehensive view of how Member States define and report energy poverty by analysing submitted and forthcoming NECP and other public documents, and their consistency thereof, and further assesses the extent to which indicators have informed the development of measures and policies to tackle energy poverty.
- Further, the results from the previous two workstreams are consolidated and compiled for each country in the form of country fiches in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the country’s ability to capture energy poverty and provide relevant recommendations and best practices relating to how EU and national indicators can be combined in different ways according to national specificities.
- Finally, the study provides a set of recommendations aimed at improving data collection, data quality and data use to address energy poverty at both EU and national level. Recommendations took the form of methodological fiches including key information relevant for their implementation.
Overall, this study concludes that there are actions to be implemented, either by central authorities, governments or local/regional authorities to improve the assessment and monitoring of energy poverty in the European Union. These, relate to three main areas:
1. How and via which datasets and indicators we are measuring energy poverty,
2. Using of common indicators and templates for the monitoring and reporting ofenergy poverty to the European Commission and,
3. Linking of energy poverty data and monitoring to policy actions in order to alleviate the phenomenon.
Citation: European Commission: Directorate-General for Energy, Study on optimisation of energy poverty indicators collected at EU and national level – Final report, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2833/6627986
