September Lunch Talk #16 Recap: Hidden Energy Poverty and Hard-to-Reach Energy Users

"There is a need for targeted and tailored energy policies and interventions."

The September lunch talk centred on the pressing issue of hidden energy poverty, featuring insightful contributions from Dr. Kristina Eisfeld, EPAH Project Manager at Climate Alliance, and Miguel Macias Sequeira, a PhD candidate at NOVA University of Lisbon and Energy & Climate Researcher. With about 50 participants attending, the session delved into the complexities of hard-to-reach energy users, highlighting the importance of targeted policies and the urgent need for effective tailored interventions to support vulnerable communities across Europe.

Miguel Macias Sequeira opened the discussion by emphasising that over 40 million Europeans currently suffer from energy poverty. He also highlighted: 

• While the technology exists to make significant emission cuts before 2030, technology adoption and behaviour change remain major challenges.
• Hard-to-reach (HTR) energy users are broadly defined as those who are underserved or difficult to engage through conventional energy policies, programmes and interventions.

In an interactive segment, Sequeira asked attendees to share their perspectives on HTR energy users, with responses highlighting groups such as immigrants, economically disadvantaged households, elderly individuals, and rural populations. He noted that while these people are inherently hard to reach, it could also be argued that it is the existing efforts that are failing to connect with them effectively.

Building on this, Sequeira presented his theoretical framework for understanding HTR energy users across Europe, which includes:

• Vulnerable households (such as low-income, elderly, and rural residents)
• Small and medium-sized enterprises
• Commercial sub-sectors (such as retail, accomodation, offices, and food services)
• Tenants and landlords 
• High-income households (who are often disengaged because they do not experience energy poverty themselves).

His research “(Dis)comfortably numb in energy transitions: Gauging residential hard-to-reach energy users in the European Union” revealed that the main HTR groups in Europe are tenants, multi-family buildings, low-income individuals, and those in ill health. He also stressed the importance of tailoring energy policies to these specific groups, as they present unique needs. Overall, tools such as his mapping of HTR users across the EU and all its 27 Member States could be used by policymakers to identify priority areas for intervention in each country and address local needs.

Kristina Eisfeld’s dissertation “Revealing the Hidden Link. Energy Poverty and Self-Restricted Energy Use in Austria” provided a complementary perspective. She introduced three theoretical lenses that guided her research: energy vulnerability, behavioural psychology, and multi-level governance. Through these lenses, Eisfeld examined which household types in Austria are most likely to experience energy poverty and assessed the effectiveness of existing policies.

Eisfeld's findings, part of the PhD research and also featured in a research article, reveal a significant group of households who self-restrict energy use, often overlooked in current definitions and support programs. By using behavioral questions instead of relying solely on energy expenditure data, the research identifies households that reduce energy consumption below comfortable levels to avoid high costs. These results were observed in Vienna, and also in Graz, and in two additional EPAH technical assistance conducted in Sátoraljaújhely and Mátraterenye this year in Hungary- underscoring the need for structural improvements and innovative financing rather than just energy-saving advice.

Eisfeld’s conclusions centred on three key areas:

• Targeting and identification: Access to reliable data is critical, as is coordination between municipal departments. Innovative tools like AI and smart technologies could help identify energy-poor households without stigmatising them.

• Behaviour: Behavioural patterns are an underexplored aspect of energy poverty and need more attention.

• Responsibility: Eisfeld called for breaking down silos both horizontally between governmental departments — social welfare, energy, housing, health, and mobility — and vertically across local, regional, national and EU levels to create a more integrated approach to tackling energy poverty.

During the Q&A, the speakers addressed the challenge of obtaining granular data on energy poverty while respecting privacy regulations. Eisfeld acknowledged that identifying low-income tenants remains difficult, emphasising the need for more proactive engagement by municipalities. Sequeira shared a success story from Portugal, where the EPAH-backed technical assistance to the Union of the Civil Parishes of Baixa da Banheira and Vale da Amoreira titled “Prescribing a Comfortable Home” provided direct support to 70 families by partnering with local organisations from the energy, social and health sectors to assist vulnerable groups. He underscored the importance of working with community-based organisations to reach HTR groups.

One participant suggested using trusted community leaders – called the Energy Heroes – to deliver energy-related information. The conversation further explored the barriers posed by cognitive biases, with  Eisfeld encouraging policymakers to recognise and try to address these biases through e.g. nuding approaches when designing interventions.

As both speakers noted, the road to tackling hidden energy poverty and reaching hard-to-reach users is complex, but targeted local-level solutions and a more integrated policy approach offer a way forward.