Europe’s clean energy transition will only succeed if it reaches everyone, not just those who can afford it. This was the central message from two sessions co-organised by the Energy Poverty Advisory Hub (EPAH) at EUSEW 2026, where policymakers, industry representatives and civil society organisations explored how to ensure vulnerable households benefit from decarbonisation rather than bear its costs. The discussions focused on two connected challenges: making urban energy communities more inclusive and ensuring the transition from fossil gas to renewable heating protects consumers at risk of energy poverty.
Energy Communities as a Tool for a Fair and Inclusive Energy Transition
During the session “From Policy to Practice: Inclusive Urban Energy Communities”, speakers from Greece, Portugal, Belgium, EU institutions and civil society explored how energy communities can support a more inclusive, citizen-centred energy transition. Participants highlighted that their success depends on creating the right conditions for growth, including clear regulations, accessible funding, technical support and strong citizen engagement. They stressed that inclusion must be built into projects from the start to ensure vulnerable households can participate and benefit.
The European Commission presented its action plan for energy communities, outlining measures to support their development across Member States. Achille Hannoset, Policy and Legal Officer, Directorate-General for Energy, emphasised that the EU’s role is to create enabling conditions for energy communities to develop and expand. Key priorities include strengthening national frameworks, providing technical assistance to local authorities, supporting peer learning, improving awareness, and expanding funding opportunities.
Representing the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory, Corina Murafa presented the Committee’s perspective on citizen participation. She stressed that despite years of EU-level commitments, significant barriers remain. She called for clearer regulatory frameworks, dedicated funding, stronger monitoring and greater investment in energy literacy and trust-building. Her central message stressed that citizens across Europe do not yet enjoy equal opportunities to participate in energy communities. Different national interpretations and regulatory approaches create what she described as a “legislative fog,” preventing citizens in some Member States from accessing the same opportunities as others.
The session then moved from European policy discussions to local examples showing how energy communities can deliver tangible benefits.
Avgi Gonou, Sustainability & International Cooperation Advisor representing the Energy Poverty Alleviation Office of the Municipality of Athens (Greece), shared the experience of her city. Through cooperation with social services, civil society organisations and local partners, Athens identified households experiencing energy poverty and supported their participation in energy community opportunities. In particular, a pilot programme provided access to renewable energy benefits to 20 women living alone and single-parent households. Ms. Gonou highlighted that trust was the key challenge: transparency, repeated engagement and local ambassadors are essential to building confidence.
Ricardo Mexia, President of Lumiar Parish Council in Lisbon (Portugal), then presented the experience of Lumiar, which after having received technical assistance from EPAH, set up one of the first citizen-led and inclusive renewable energy communities in Portugal. The municipality supported the initiative by coordinating partnerships, providing technical support and helping establish governance structures. Vulnerable households were included as full members with equal rights, while solidarity mechanisms helped overcome financial barriers. His closing message was that communities should start projects rather than waiting for perfect conditions: “If you build it, they will come.”
Finally, Steven Laurijssen, Project Coordinator at Klimaan, shared lessons from a social housing energy community project in Mechelen (Belgium), where solar panels are being deployed for the benefit of vulnerable residents. The project combines renewable energy production with work on energy sharing, storage and improving household self-consumption. Mr. Laurijssen emphasised that technical solutions must be supported by strong social engagement, including cooperation with municipalities, housing organisations and local ambassadors.
Throughout the discussion, participants identified several recurring barriers, including regulatory complexity that can slow down energy community development; limited access to finance where upfront costs remain a challenge; insufficient local capacity for municipalities; and the challenge of building trust and awareness to ensure that energy communities are genuinely designed for their benefit. The session showed that energy communities are not only a tool for renewable energy deployment, but also to address energy poverty, strengthen local democracy and give citizens a more active role in the energy transition.
Decarbonising heating raises affordability concerns
While community energy projects offer one pathway towards a more inclusive energy system, decarbonising heating presents another major challenge.
The session Empowering and Protecting Vulnerable Households on the Path to Decarbonisation: From Gas Grids to Renewable Heat, organised jointly between the Directorate General for Energy, EPAH, BEUC, and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, examined how Europe can accelerate the transition away from fossil gas while ensuring that households experiencing energy poverty are not left behind. Speakers highlighted that decarbonising heating is not only a technological challenge but also a question of affordability, consumer protection and fairness.
As fossil gas consumption declines, the session explored how policymakers can manage the impacts on consumers, avoid increasing costs for those least able to adapt, and ensure that renewable heating solutions are accessible to all households.
Alejandro Ulzurrun, Head of Unit for Consumers, Just Transition and Local Initiatives at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, stressed that consumer protection must remain at the centre of Europe’s energy transition. He highlighted the need to ensure that vulnerable consumers are not trapped in increasingly expensive gas systems as other households move towards cleaner alternatives.
Lucila de Almeida, Professor at the Florence School of Regulation, presented a study on consumer protection during gas phase-out, on how declining gas consumption could affect consumers and energy bills. According to her, gas consumption is reducing both because some households disconnect and others consume less while remaining connected. She also stressed the importance of avoiding new investments that could lock in future gas dependency. While existing EU policies are moving towards reducing fossil fuel use in new buildings, she highlighted the need to ensure that new district heating systems and infrastructure investments are aligned with long-term decarbonisation goals.
During the panel discussion led by Marion Santini, Team Leader at the Regulatory Assistance Project, policy developments, achievements, common challenges, and opportunities to accelerate the clean heating transition were discussed.
Sandra Vainuté, Energy Attaché at Lithuania's Permanent Representation to the European Union, highlighted the importance of national strategies that combine ambitious climate policies with measures to protect consumers during the transition. She illustrated her speech with the recently adopted Social Climate Plan for Lithuania in which heat pumps represent one of the main technologies capable of replacing fossil gas in residential heating despite their relatively high upfront costs that continue preventing many low-income households from making the switch.
From local approach, Masha Smirnova, Lead EU Buildings Decarbonisation, Agora Energiewende, highlighted the key role of cities in delivering a fair clean heating transition and their need for stronger coordination with energy operators, regulators and national authorities to align infrastructure planning with future heating needs. Providing consumers with certainty is a key challenge.
Housing conditions were also identified as a critical factor. Eva Schwab, Policy Officer at FEANTSA, noted that many households experiencing energy poverty live in poorly insulated homes, where installing clean heating technologies alone will not solve affordability problems. Investments in building renovation must accompany the rollout of renewable heating.
At last, Jozefien Vanbecelaere, Policy Director at the European Heat Pump Association, highlighted that while heat pumps are central to Europe’s clean heating transition, deployment remains far from sufficient. She noted that only around 13–15% of European households currently use heat pumps, with cost remaining the main barrier. As it stands there is significant room to expand the use of heat pumps across Europe. Attractivity of heat pumps is still limited by both high upfront investment costs and electricity prices compared with fossil fuel systems. She stressed the need for measures to reduce these barriers, including targeted grants for the most vulnerable households, social leasing models where appropriate, and efforts to increase market competition and lower installation costs.
Frederico Oliveira da Silva, Head of Energy at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), provided closing remarks for the session, emphasising the need to remove barriers to the gas phase-out, strengthen consumer rights and awareness, provide greater financial support for clean heating, and ensure consumers remain at the centre of the energy transition, welcoming the Commission's Citizens Energy Package as a step in that direction.
As a conclusion, the session highlighted that moving away from fossil gas requires more than replacing one technology with another. A successful energy transition must address affordability, housing conditions, infrastructure planning and consumer protection together. Speakers agreed that vulnerable households need targeted support to participate in the transition and avoid bearing disproportionate costs. As Europe advances towards climate neutrality, the challenge will be ensuring that renewable heating solutions are not only available, but accessible to everyone.
Social justice increasingly shaping EU energy policy
Although the two sessions addressed different aspects of the energy transition, they converged on a common conclusion: climate policies will only achieve lasting public support if they deliver tangible benefits for citizens, particularly to the most vulnerable ones.
From expanding access to energy communities to supporting households through the transition away from fossil gas, speakers repeatedly emphasised that social inclusion must become an integral part of energy policy.
As Member States continue implementing the EU climate and energy legal framework, the discussions at EUSEW 2026 reflected that decarbonisation is no longer viewed solely as an environmental or technological challenge, but increasingly as an opportunity to build a fairer and more resilient energy system. Achieving climate neutrality will depend not only on deploying renewable technologies, but also on ensuring that no household is left behind.
Missed the event?
EUSEW 2026 Organisers have made session recordings available online.
Watch the session replays online at: https://interactive.eusew.eu/platform/eusew-2026/programme?day=2026-06-11.
Details
- Publication date
- 9 July 2026