Equity and Vulnerability in Energy Poverty: Insights from the 3rd Practitioners’ Event and the 21st Lunch Talk

As part of its new thematic focus on equity and vulnerability, the Energy Poverty Advisory Hub (EPAH) has launched a dedicated cycle exploring Europe’s hidden inequalities and the social dimensions of energy poverty. This cycle highlights why equity matters, showcasing examples of vulnerable energy consumers, and demonstrating how policies and measures can be made more inclusive.

Within this context, EPAH convened two complementary exchanges. On 26 November, the 3rd EPAH Practitioners’ Event, “Vulnerability and Equity in the Context of Energy Poverty in Central and Northern Europe” brought together 73 practitioners, policymakers, researchers and community actors from 23 EU countries to analyse vulnerability and equity in the region.

One week later, on 3 December, 56 participants from across Europe joined the 21st EPAH Lunch Talk, “Equity and Vulnerability in Energy Poverty: Europe’s Hidden Inequalities”, deepening the discussion and connecting these insights with broader governance challenges and the realities facing vulnerable households in the energy transition.

Practitioners’ Event

Co-hosted by the EPAH Antenna in Austria (Klimabündnis Österreich), the event examined how social factors, behavioural patterns, institutional settings and housing conditions intersect to shape energy vulnerability across Central and Northern Europe. 

Opening the session, Jenny von Platten (Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden) introduced an energy vulnerability framework that expands the perspective beyond affordability alone. Drawing on Sweden’s warm-rent system, she showed that many tenants underheat their homes due to fear, limited energy literacy and unequal power relations rather than direct energy costs. She presented a model demonstrating that rising vulnerability sharply reduces households’ ability to cope with price spikes without compromising their comfort and well-being. Her proposed solutions ranged from strengthened support for efficiency improvements and measures to reduce income inequalities to a call for a more transformative transition that addresses the deeper social factors driving vulnerability.

Xander van Tilburg (TNO, Netherlands) discussed energy poverty monitoring at the municipal level, focusing on the interface between national and local policies. After the 2022 energy crisis, the Dutch government allocated funds to municipalities to address energy poverty. TNO conducted biannual surveys across 350 municipalities, combining quantitative and qualitative data, with open-text responses proving particularly valuable in capturing household frustrations. Despite strong cooperation with housing associations, identifying target groups remained challenging. Municipalities welcomed the flexibility of the funding but found many initiatives too short-term. While expressing concerns about continuity in a context of potential austerity measures, he remained optimistic about the key role of energy coaches.

Irene Milewski (DoppelPlus, Austria) presented local support services designed to assist vulnerable households through personalised energy and climate coaching delivered by volunteer climate coaches. Targeting both owners and tenants, the programme helps overcome the “shame barrier” that often prevents people from seeking assistance, and focuses on practical, affordable behaviour changes and small investments related to energy efficiency, heating practices, mold prevention and understanding utility bills. Each participating household receives a free starter kit, including items such as LED bulbs and fridge thermometers, to help reduce consumption and costs. In addition to home visits, the organisation delivers workshops in social institutions to reach target groups. Since 2017, DoppelPlus has carried out around 1,200 consultations, generating average estimated savings of €200 and 650 kg of CO₂ per household annually.

Audrey Dobbins (Fraunhofer Institute, Germany) presented a technical approach to identifying the impacts of policies on households, focusing on improving energy well-being by reducing consumption and carbon emissions. In Germany, where many low-income households rely on fossil fuels and have limited decision-making power, she developed a three-step tool that profiles households based on variables like income and location, models long-term energy investment options, and compares the effects of different policy measures. Her analysis showed that investment subsidies encourage renewable energy uptake and reduce fossil-fuel dependence, whereas consumption subsidies tend to maintain existing fossil-fuel use. She also demonstrated that targeted investment support can sharply reduce suppressed demand to below one million people in the long term. A second example on redistributing carbon tax revenues showed that directing benefits to lower-income households is far more effective, reducing suppressed demand to fewer than 131,000 people. Overall, Dobbins concluded that well-targeted measures can both alleviate energy poverty and advance the energy transition.

A participatory segment closed the event, with discussions across four breakout rooms converging on shared concerns. Participants emphasised that the social dimensions of energy poverty, such as stigma, isolation and the invisibility of affected households, continue to hinder identification, and that even effective renovation measures do not address the wider conditions of poverty many households face. They also reflected on cost-management models, including ideas to further socialise energy expenses beyond warm-rent schemes, while noting doubts about their political feasibility. Across discussions, participants highlighted the need to better integrate financial support with social and advisory services, recognising local communities as crucial intermediaries.

Practical and governance barriers were also repeatedly raised: language obstacles, limited understanding of energy use and billing, complex heating systems, and a persistent shortage of affordable, thermally adequate housing. Motivating landlords to renovate remains difficult, and proposed solutions such as tax incentives or minimum energy-class requirements may carry unintended consequences. Participants further pointed to insufficient funding, varying national approaches and gaps in data collection, which make it harder to reach households who avoid seeking help due to shame or mistrust. 

Overall, the event confirmed that energy poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon requiring coordinated social, financial and regulatory responses. While existing mechanisms are valuable, they remain insufficient to address the scale of the challenge.

21st EPAH Lunch Talk

The 21st EPAH Lunch Talk, moderated by Kristina Eisfeld (Climate Alliance | EPAH), returned to the themes raised during the 3rd Practitioners’ Event, focusing on the social dimensions of vulnerability and the governance structures needed to address Europe’s hidden energy inequalities. 

Drawing on the insights from the previous week, Ulrike Feichtinger (Climate Alliance Austria | EPAH Antenna) highlighted why energy poverty often remains invisible in practice. She noted that many households do not seek help due to stigma, shame, fear of landlords, limited energy literacy, language barriers or mistrust toward public institutions. Even in contexts where heating is included in rent, households may underheat out of uncertainty or fear, demonstrating how psychological and relational factors intersect with material deprivation. Feichtinger stressed the essential role of local communities and frontline organisations in identifying affected households, and pointed to continued gaps in local data, limited renovation incentives for landlords, and persistent practical barriers that prevent vulnerable households from accessing support.

Professor Stefan Bouzarovski (University of Manchester) examined the “hidden labour” underpinning efforts to tackle energy poverty. While green jobs are expanding rapidly across Europe, he argued that the most essential roles for addressing energy injustices are the social and intermediary ones, such as energy advisors, NGOs, community workers and local authorities, who mediate between households, services and institutions. These actors provide emotional labour, administrative navigation, care work, advocacy and service integration, yet their contributions remain structurally undervalued, underfunded and poorly integrated into climate and energy governance. Bouzarovski warned that many governments increasingly rely on the third sector to fill gaps left by public institutions, creating uneven responsibilities and unstable delivery structures. He called for formal recognition, adequate funding and skills development for these roles within the wider energy transition.

During the open discussion, participants reflected on growing governance gaps and the increasing expectation that NGOs and civil society organisations deliver support traditionally handled by public authorities. Examples from the UK, Ireland and parts of Northern Europe illustrated how responsibilities are shifting toward the third sector, raising concerns about sustainability and fairness. Participants also stressed that vulnerability cannot be reduced to income alone, pointing instead to the combined effects of housing conditions, health, social isolation and structural inequalities. The discussion reinforced the need for integrated social, health and energy services capable of reaching households who avoid seeking help due to shame or mistrust, and for policy frameworks that acknowledge the complexity of lived experiences rather than relying solely on financial indicators.

EPAH's integrated knowledge-sharing approach

Together, the Practitioners' Event and the Lunch Talk illustrate EPAH's multi-layered knowledge-sharing strategy:

• The Practitioners' Event offers a deep-dive, expert space for exchange, peer learning and co-creation of solutions around a specific topic.
• The Lunch Talks provide an accessible, regular platform for municipalities, practitioners, and interested stakeholders across Europe to discuss experiences and learn from emerging research and local initiatives.
  Both formats prioritise interaction, mutual learning, and practical application, contributing to a growing community of practice on energy poverty in Europe.

Presentations from the two events:

• Jenny von Platten, Researcher, Stockholm Environment Institute;
• Xander van Tilburg, Senior Researcher, TNO;
• Irene Milewski, Project Lead, Doppelplus (Austria);
• Audrey Dobbins, Senior Researcher, Fraunhofer Institute;
• Ulrike Feichtinger, Representative of Climate Alliance (Austria);
• Stefan Bouzarovski, Professor of Human Geography, University of Manchester;