Energy poverty – New insights for measurement and policy

The analysis of unique merged SILC-HBS microdata from Hungary allows for the joint assessment of different forms of energy poverty at the micro level, and yields a series of novel and policy-relevant insights. This JRC Policy Brief finds that existing measures of energy poverty based on subjective valuations and expenditure ratios identify wholly different population segments as energy poor, with less than one in three such households suffering from multiple forms of energy-related deprivation. Different measures also diverge greatly in terms of incidence level, seasonal fluctuations, cross-country comparability, persistence over time, as well as the socio-demographic background, living conditions and AROPE status of those identified as energy poor. These novel findings suggest that energy poverty is very hard to delineate accurately with existing measures. The Brief calls for simultaneous improvements in the existing measurement framework and the exploration of new alternative methods, techniques and data for effective social monitoring and sound evidence-based energy policies.