Harriet Thomsonwww.fuelpoverty.eu

The growing phenomenon of fuel poverty across the European Union

Background• Only the UK, Ireland and France have a definition

• Evident from the literature that fuel poverty is a problem across Europe:– Whyley and Callender (1997) – UK, IE, NL, DE– Healy and Clinch (2002) – EU14– Buzar (2007) – Eastern Europe– EPEE (2009) – BE, FR, IT, ES, UK– Tirado Herrero and Ürge-Vorsatz (2010) – Hungary– Huybrechs, Meyer and Vranken (2012) - Belgium– Thomson and Snell (2012) – EU25

• Significant gap in knowledge

Studying fuel poverty at the EU level• The EU is a powerful political and economic

institution that has shaped fuel poverty relevant policy at the member state level, e.g.– Liberalisation of the gas and electricity markets– Europe 2020 targets– Requirements for national fuel poverty action plans– Requirements for national energy ombudsmen– EU Emissions Trading Scheme

• Data issues– No standardised fuel expenditure data– UK unique in having a detailed housing survey

(EHCS/EHS)– Available data is difficult to access and has

weaknesses

PhD methods• Longitudinal analysis of consensual data

– EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions– Multilevel modelling

• Additional data analysis– Gas and electricity prices– Energy efficiency data – Eurobarometer and European Quality of Life Survey

• Content analysis of policy documents

Overall, create a typology of EU fuel poverty

Consensual measurement• EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions

• Three key proxy indicators:α) Ability to pay to keep the home adequately warmβ) Arrears on utility bills within last 12 monthsγ) Presence of a leaking roof, damp walls or rotten windows

• Composite index developed using the following weights for each proxy indicator:

Scenario WeightingOne 0.50 α + 0.25 β + 0.25 γTwo 0.25 α + 0.50 β + 0.25 γThree 0.25 α + 0.25 β + 0.50 γFour 0.33 α + 0.33 β + 0.33 γ

Source: Thomson and Snell (2012)

Austria

Belgium

BulgariaCyp

rus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

Latvi

a

Lithuania

Luxe

mbourgMalta

Netherlands

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slova

kia

Slove

niaSp

ain

Sweden

United Kingdom

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Comparison of twice national median fuel spend and composite consensual meas-

urement

Twice national median fuel spend (2005 HBS) Composite consensual measure (2007 EU-SILC)

Source: European Commission (2010) and author analysis of EU-SILC

Summary• European fuel poverty research is constrained by the

lack of comparable data on household fuel spend, necessitating the use of proxy indicators

• Initial analysis confirms previous findings concerning European fuel poverty, and demonstrates that fuel poverty is a problem for most Member States

• Despite this, levels of acknowledgement and acceptance of fuel poverty as a policy problem are low across the EU, with only three official definitions

Thank you for listening, any questions or

comments?

hrt500@york.ac.ukwww.fuelpoverty.eu

References• Buzar, S. (2007) Energy Poverty in Eastern Europe: Hidden

Geographies of Deprivation. Aldershot: Ashgate• EPEE, (2009) Tackling Fuel Poverty in Europe: Recommendations

Guide for Policy Makers. http://www.fuel-poverty.com/files/WP5_D15_EN.pdf

• European Commission (2010a) Commission Staff Working Paper: An Energy Policy for Consumers. European Commission, Brussels.

• Healy, J. D., and Clinch, P. (2002) Fuel poverty in Europe: A cross-country analysis using a new composite measure. Environmental Studies Research Series, University College Dublin.

• Huybrechs F., Meyer S. and Vranken J. (2012) Energiearmoede in België.[online] http://www.ua.ac.be/main.aspx?c=*OASES&n=104242

• Thomson, H., and Snell, C. (2012) Quantifying the prevalence of fuel poverty across the European Union. Energy Policy, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.009

• Tirado Herrero, S. and Ürge-Vorsatz, D. (2010) Fuel poverty in Hungary: A first assessment. Final report. Center for Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Policy, Central European University.

• Whyley, C. and Callender, C., (1997) Fuel poverty in Europe: evidence from the European Household Panel Survey. National Energy Action, Newcastle upon Tyne.