Energy Poverty

 

The topic of Energy Poverty was introduced by the European Commission through Directive 2009/72/EC (Internal Market in Electricity) and Directive 2009/73/EC (Internal Market in Natural Gas), making the relevance of this type of poverty more evident and the need to support economically vulnerable consumers.

This topic has been gaining importance and an example of this was the creation of the European Energy Poverty Observatory (EPOV).

 

According to the Internal Market for Electricity Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019) and the Governance Regulation, all Member States (MS) must calculate the number of households affected by energy poverty, taking into account the household energy services needed to ensure basic living standards in the relevant national context, existing social and other relevant policies, as well as the Commission's indicative guidance on indicators relevant to energy poverty.

 

In data released on January 6, 2020 by Eurostat, Portugal is listed as the fifth country in the European Union where people can least afford to keep their homes properly heated, with about 19% of Portuguese people in energy poverty. Below Portugal are countries such as Bulgaria (34%), Lithuania (28%), Greece (23%) and Cyprus (22%).

 

According to the Energy Efficiency Directive, energy efficiency measures should be taken into account in any strategy to combat energy poverty and consumer vulnerability.

The EU's building stock must, in the long term, consist of near-zero energy buildings, in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

 

MSs, when determining the number of energy-poor households, must establish and publish a set of criteria which may include low income levels, a high share of disposable income spent on energy and poor energy efficiency. Where a significant number of households experience energy poverty, based on an assessment of verifiable data, MSs should include in their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP) an indicative national target for reducing energy poverty.

 

See also NECP and energy poverty.