Energy poverty: A macrolevel perspective

Abstract

The growing unpredictability of energy poverty requires a different policy approach. Yet studies focus on the microlevel drivers, leaving the roles of macroeconomic perspective and climate understudied. Studying the latter is important though, because well‐planned policies can fail if the causes of energy poverty and their interrelations remain unclear. This research submits data collected from 28 EU member states to fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis and offers new evidence concerning the relationship between energy poverty and macrolevel drivers. Our results suggest that states with a mild climate, low or average GDP, and high energy prices have high levels of energy poverty. Likewise, states located in colder climates with low or average GDP, the energy‐policy focus, and nonhigh energy prices tend to be energy poor. Moreover, the results show that two configurations lead to absence of energy poverty. To develop and implement effective policies, it is vital to understand these configurations.

Confronting Energy Poverty in Europe: A Research and Policy Agenda

“…However, more recent understandings of the driving forces of this condition have introduced a wider range of dimensions to the equation, interpreting energy poverty as a systemic challenge connected to broader socio-technical and governance infrastructures. Primc et al [42], for instance, used a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method to emphasize the importance of climate and macroeconomic development. Policy practices associated with the state, private and third sectors-as well as existing institutional structures and capacities more broadly-are also being increasingly implicated as key energy poverty factors at multiple decision-making levels [10,22,[43][44][45].…”

“…Third, there is an acute need to rethink theorizations of the causes of energy poverty so as to expose the wider injustices and policy failures that lead to deprivation and vulnerability [42,44,[112][113][114]. The continued emphasis on behaviour change and education [48] in many policy and scientific debates obscures the persistent and systemic dynamics of stigmatization and exclusion-such as austerity-that lie at the root of the energy poverty problem.…”

Sources of Energy Poverty: A Factor Analysis Approach for Spain

“…The demand features have been less analyzed in the literature. The main goal is to identify the risk factors that are associated with energy poverty situations in the long term, such as household composition, the age and health status of its members, and social conditions (unemployed or retired people, or both) (Bollino and Botti, 2017;Bouzarovski and Tirado-Herrero, 2017;Primc et al, 2019;Oliveras et al, 2021). Spatial and regional singularities and differences in energy poverty are another topic in the literature for which specific small-scale evidence has been provided.…”

“…Quishpe et al (2019) estimated MEPI for Ecuador based on Living Conditions Survey data, confirming that energy poverty incidence is concentrated below the 40th percentile for household income, with significant differences between urban and rural areas. Further, Kyprianou et al ( 2019) compared energy measures in five EU countries, whereas Primc et al (2019) presented evidence of 28 EU countries from the macro-level perspective.…”

Factors of Energy Poverty: Evidence from Tibet, China

“…For example, although the United Kingdom addressed the fuel energy issues early in the 20 th century, energy poverty remains a serious issue [28]. Moreover, the energy status of Europe is pessimistic [29]. Although the U.S. government has not explicitly acknowledged the existence of energy poverty within the country, it has been observed in western mountainous areas [30].…”