Energy Poverty Handbook
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ENERGY POVERTY HANDBOOK edited by katalin csiba foreword by tamás meszerics member of the european parliament Tis handbook was initiated and edited by the ofce of Tamás Meszerics (Member of the European Parliament) via Te Greens/EFA group of the European Parliament. Responsible ofce: Tamás MESZERICS Member of the European Parliament [email protected] ASP 05F254, 60, Rue Wiertz B-1047 Brussels Belgium Publication: Editorial closing date: 10/10/2016 Designed by: Miklós FERENCZ Cover image is from istockphoto.com (ID: 53677102) Printed in Brussels and Budapest CAT: QA-06-16-183-EN-C CAT: QA-06-16-183-EN-N ISBN: 978-92-846-0286-5 (paper) ISBN: 978-92-846-0288-9 (pdf) DOI: 10.2861/94270 (paper) DOI: 10.2861/094050 (pdf) Te opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily refect the position or opinion of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation, except for commercial purposes, are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and provided the publisher is given a prior notice and supplied with electronic copy of the publication. © European Union, 2016 ENERGY POVERTY HANDBOOK Editorial Team: katalin csiba anna bajomi ákos gosztonyi Contributors: sian jones angela tod harriet thomson maarten de groote filippos anagnostopoulos stefan bouzarovski sergio tirado herrero carolyn snell audrey dobbins steve pye edit lakatos anna bajomi October 2016, Brussels TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations 11 Foreword tamás meszerics 17 Overview katalin csiba 18 Social causes and consequences of energy poverty sian jones 21 Health impacts of cold housing and energy poverty angela tod and harriet thomson 39 Energy performance of the housing stock filippos anagnostopoulos and maarten de groote 59 Understanding the core-periphery divide in the geographies of European energy poverty stefan bouzarovski and sergio tirado herrero 81 DeFnitions and indicators of energy poverty across the EU harriet thomson and carolyn snell 101 Member State level regulation related to energy poverty and vulnerable consumers audrey dobbins and steve pye 119 Warm homes for all - Tools to tackle the energy poverty challenge edit lakatos 153 How to tackle energy poverty − Good practices at a local level anna bajomi 169 Authors and organizations 182 ABBREVIATIONS 3csep Center for Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Policy aa Attendance Allowance acer Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators ademe Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators Brusselse Gewestelijke Huisvestingsmaatschappij bghm (slrb) (Housing Association of the Brussels-Capital Region) bpie Buildings Performance Institute Europe ceb Council of Europe Development Bank cee Central and Eastern European states ceer Council of European Energy Regulators cis Commonwealth of Independent States cordis Community Research and Development Information Service cpas Centre Public d'Action Sociale Civic Consultation of the Consumer Policy Evaluation cpec Consortium cure Centre for Urban Resilience and Energy decc Department of Energy & Climate Change (UK) dg Directorate-General dg energy Directorate-General for Energy dg health and Directorate-General for Health and Safety safety dg justice and Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers consumers dg sanco Directorate-General for Health and Consumers dhc networks District Heating & Cooling Networks dla Disability Living Allowance dsdni Department for Social Development Northern Ireland dso Distribution System Operators eapn European Anti-Poverty Network ec European Commission ece Eastern and Central Europe echp European Community Household Panel UN Economic Commission for Latin American and eclac the Caribbean eco proposal Energy Company Obligation proposal (UK) ee Energy Efciency ABBREVIATIONS 11 eeb ppp Energy-efcient Buildings Public-Private Partnership lihc Low Income High Cost eesc European Economic and Social Committee mep Member of the European Parliament efsi European Fund for Strategic Investment mfh Multi-family houses ehcs English House Condition Survey ms Member State of the EU eib European Investment Bank ngo Non-governmental organization elena nhs UK National HWealth Service European Local ENergy Assistance programme nice National Institute for Health and Care Excellence entsos European Network of Transmission System Operators nras National Regulatory Authorities ep European Parliament nzebs Nearly zero energy buildings epee European fuel Poverty and Energy Efciency ofgem Ofce of Gas and Electricity Markets (UK) erc European Research Council onpe Observatoire National de la Précarité Energétique erdf European Regional Development Fund ops Operational Programmes ergeg European Regulators' Group for Electricity and Gas pda Project Development Assistance esco Energy Service Companies pf4ee Private Financing for Energy Efciency esf European Social Fund phe Public Health England esif European Structural & Investment Funds ppp Purchasing Power Parity espn European Social Policy Network pps Purchasing Power Units eu European Union ACtions in low income Households to Improve energy project achieve eu ets EU Emissions Trading Scheme efciency through Visits and Energy diagnosis eu-silc EU Survey of Income and Living Conditions reelih Residental Energy Efciency for Low-Income Household euromomo European Monitoring of Excess Mortality for Public Health Action sfh Single Family Houses Société du Logement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale ewd Excessive Winter Deaths slrb (bghm) (Housing Association of the Brussels-Capital Region) ewm Excessive Winter Mortality storm Self-Organising Termal Operational Resource Management programme filt Te Foundations Independent Living Trust programme fsu Former Soviet Union sws Social Welfare Services hdd Heating Degree Days thfc Te Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. hfhi Habitat for Humanity International un United Nations hh Household unan-león National Autonomous University of Nicaragua hia Home Improvement Agency unece United Nations Economic Commission for Europe hicp Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices unge National University of Equatorial Guinea ier Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Energy Use usaid United States Agency for International Development ilb Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg ush l’Union Social pour l’Habitat inspire Infrastructure for Spatial information in Europe vcwg Vulnerable Consumer Working Group itre Committee on Industry, Research and Energy who World Health Organization lemon Warm Home Scheme Less Energy More OpportuNities programme whs programme wun Warm Up North (UK) life Programme for the Environment and Climate Action programme 12 ABBREVIATIONS ABBREVIATIONS 13 country abbreviations at Austria it Italy be Belgium lt Lithuania bg Bulgaria lu Luxembourg cy Cyprus lv Latvia cz Czech Republic mt Malta de Germany nl Te Netherlands dk Denmark pl Poland ee Estonia pt Portugal es Spain ro Romania fi Finland se Sweden fr France si Slovenia gr Greece sk Slovakia hr Croatia uk United Kingdom hu Hungary us United States ie Ireland 14 ABBREVIATIONS FOREWORD tamás meszerics member of the european parliament “Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way but you can never again William Wilberforce say that you did not know.” “Abolition Speech” 12th of May, 1789 House of Commons Energy poverty is a serious concern in our societies which receives more and more attention these days. We slowly realised that energy is no longer a luxury service that provides a higher standard of living but an essential commodity the absence of which might exclude people from partici- pating in the life of a society. During the Great Recession of 2008 and its afermath we also realised that we do not have sufcient protection mechanisms in our society to maintain a minimum necessary energy supply for all citizens during economic hardships. As Europeans we tend to think about ourselves as ones who care for their fellow citizens and support the less fortunate members of society. Tis is what we learn and nurture in our hearts and minds as humanists of various creeds. Yet we are too slow to support those families who live in cold and damp dwell- ings risking their health through no choice of their own. We fail to assist those who slide into an irresolvable debt cycle just because energy prices are too high in relation to their income. Only when the most vulnerable people are permanently lifed out of their desperate circumstances can we honestly say that we live in a society of which we can be proud. My goal and hope with this handbook is to reach out to concerned citi- zens and enable them to stand up for their community. I would be delighted to see energy poverty expert working groups being formed to provide better research, community advisory groups starting new energy advo- cacy projects, lobby groups launching energy poverty campaigns. I would be more than happy to see these groups connecting to each other sharing experiences and successes as they see the progress of their neighbourhoods. I would like to see my fellow politicians taking the initiative all across the EU to eliminate energy poverty from our Union once and for all. I would like to thank the authors and the editors for their hard work on this project. Teir dedication to the subject in the academic and non-gov- ernmental sector was the real engine of this project. Tis strong commit- 17 ment gives me the hope that Europe can succeed in the challenge of abol- We invited some of the best-known scholars and organisations to ishing energy poverty in the coming decade. To reach this goal we need guide