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Energy Poverty Advisory Hub
News article25 November 2022Directorate-General for Energy

New EPAH dashboard: practical advices for national indicators use on energy poverty

The national indicators are an important source for Member-States to understand energy poverty situation. The new EPAH dashboard of 21 national indicators aims to provide the best visualisation possible of energy poverty levels across Europe, thanks to the most recent EU-wide statistics. As the use of indicators can be challenging, it is important to understand how to read, interpret and apply the data offered by the dashboard to take action. Let’s have a closer look at the content of this dashboard and its purpose in the analysis of energy poverty levels in Europe.

Energy poverty occurs in different ways among Member-States and within their regions at local level and can impact different groups of people. The indicators portrayed in the dashboard provide a first approach and scope to diagnose energy poverty and target actions; while providing an important overview and support the monitoring of the phenomenon.

The EPAH dashboard offers disaggregated data that increase the precision of the analysis. For example, disaggregating the tenure type (owner paying mortgage, outright owner, tenant/subtenant paying rent at market rate, accommodation is rented at a reduced rate, accommodation is provided free) for the indicator “Inability to keep home adequately warm” allows to have a first estimate of more exposed groups. It encourages to then challenge these results with a local diagnosis that to determine precisely the more exposed groups.

Combining the data for each country results in a colorful map of the European Union with variable levels of different dimensions of energy poverty. The dashboard offers practical features to navigate through years, indicators, and countries with a more accurate display, as the islands are now represented on the map. It provides the most recent data thanks to intensive work to update several indicators with 2021 data when available.

With the set of 21 indicators, visitors can view all the characteristics of energy poverty for a specific country and year, but they can also compare different countries for a given indicator for every year available. These features enhance the ability to compare data and to better understand how the characteristics of energy poverty are distributed.

The dashboard has also been structured to provide easy access to the data, as the dataset could be used directly within your statistics and research context. Among the downloadable elements, a one-page document (under “Map, graph and info” section) gives you the definition, limits of applications, and examples highlights for each indicator.

The application limits (which you can also find in the ‘’Bear in mind’’ section, and in more detail in the EPAH report Energy Poverty National Indicators: Insights for a more effective measuring) are an important element in the use of the indicators. Being aware of their limitations in explaining the phenomenon invites to multiply the data collection. It is because energy poverty is a multifaceted issue that one indicator does not give a sufficiently accurate picture of the situation and that a series of indicators is needed

Overall, this dashboard is a great tool to start understanding which are the characteristics of energy poverty in Europe and in national contexts. In order to address the local realities of energy poverty and target the measures on the most exposed groups, the use of local indicators is essential. Find more content on local indicators on the dedicated page.

If you have any unsolved questions regarding the dashboard or any other aspect of energy poverty, please contact us via infoatenergypoverty [dot] eu (info[at]energypoverty[dot]eu).

Details

Publication date
25 November 2022
Author
Directorate-General for Energy