University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) (Spain) http://www.eppedia.eu/ en Energy poverty and low income in Spain http://www.eppedia.eu/article/energy-poverty-and-low-income-spain <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Energy poverty and low income in Spain</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Author</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/authors/antepara-inigo" hreflang="en">Antepara Iñigo</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>ute.dubois</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span>Tue, 03/16/2021 - 22:35</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-affiliation--article.html.twig * field--node--field-affiliation.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-affiliation.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-affiliation field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Affiliation</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/93" hreflang="en">University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) (Spain)</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-first-published-date--article.html.twig * field--node--field-first-published-date.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-first-published-date.html.twig * field--datetime.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-first-published-date field--type-datetime field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">First published date</div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-03-04T12:00:00Z">2021.03.04</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-last-updated-date--article.html.twig * field--node--field-last-updated-date.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-last-updated-date.html.twig * field--datetime.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-last-updated-date field--type-datetime field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Last updated date</div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-03-04T12:00:00Z">2021.03.04</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-theme--article.html.twig * field--node--field-theme.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-theme.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-theme field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Theme</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/47" hreflang="en">Low-income households</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/87" hreflang="en">Covid-19</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/137" hreflang="en">Energy expenditures</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/61" hreflang="en">Vulnerable consumers</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-article-download--article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-download.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-article-download.html.twig * field--file.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-article-download field--type-file field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Article download</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'file_link' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/file-link.html.twig' --> <span class="file file--mime-application-pdf file--application-pdf icon-before"><span class="file-icon"><span class="icon glyphicon glyphicon-file text-primary" aria-hidden="true"></span></span><span class="file-link"><a href="http://www.eppedia.eu/sites/default/files/2021-03/Antepara_2021_Energy%20poverty%20and%20low%20income%20in%20Spain_EP-pedia.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=220554" title="Open file in new window" target="_blank">Antepara_2021_Energy poverty and low income in Spain</a></span><span class="file-size">215.38 KB</span></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/file-link.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-page-elements--article.html.twig * field--node--field-page-elements.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-page-elements.html.twig * field--entity-reference-revisions.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-page-elements field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden field--items"> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-text-block--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig * paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-text-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-text--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-text.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--field-text.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><h2><strong>The relation between low income</strong> <strong>and energy poverty</strong></h2> <p>Spain, compared with other Member States of the EU28, has a lower average disposable income of households per capita, as can be seen in Table 1.</p></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-full-width-image--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig x paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-full-width-image paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-image--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img src="/sites/default/files/styles/inline_image_full_width/public/2021-03/Table%201.png?itok=9kMMyCVD" width="1200" height="726" alt="Table 1" loading="lazy" class="img-responsive" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-caption--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-caption.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-caption.html.twig * field--string.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-caption field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item">Table 1. Energy poverty indicators Spain and EU28</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-source--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-source.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-source.html.twig * field--string.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-source field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item">Source: (1) Eurostat (sdg_10_20) https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/; (2) Share of income (%) from EPOV https://www.energypoverty.eu/indicators-data</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-text-block--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig * paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-text-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-text--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-text.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--field-text.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The income gap between Spain and the EU average increased during the previous crisis beginning in 2008, after the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble which turned into a global financial crisis. Regarding energy poverty indicators, from 2005 to 2015 only self-reported indicators (based on EU-SILC data) are available and “Arrears on utility bills” numbers show a clear increase in energy poverty levels. Despite the relatively mild weather in Spain, the energy poverty indicators are average, quite possibly due to lower disposable incomes. Dubois and Meier (2016) analysed energy poverty across EU countries, and they concluded that energy inequality in Spain mainly affects low-income households – the same as in countries such as France, Hungary, Poland, Greece, Malta and Latvia – but not specifically certain household group(s).</p> <p>One factor that can have great influence on whether low-income households fall into energy poverty is the price of energy. Electricity is a key component of Spain's domestic energy demand and the most costly item of the average household's energy bill. Although the Spanish electricity market was liberalised in 1997, it is still organised mainly around five large electricity companies. Other energy markets, e.g. fuel for transportation, involve only a few companies as well. When Spanish low-income households have to deal with heating, with the (little) money they can spend to warm the house, they rely on bottled butane and often on electricity. They cannot afford two different energy contracts (i.e. electricity and gas, which means paying two connection charges whatever the consumptions of the two), and they choose only electricity because it offers more energy services (lighting, communications…).</p> <p>Spanish electricity consumers saw a 63 per cent nominal increase in electricity prices over 2006-2012 in comparison to only a 26 per cent increase in the EU28, according to Tirado and Jiménez Meneses (2016). Spain had the sixth highest electricity price in the EU in 2012. The difference is lower for the case of natural gas, with a 49 per cent increase for Spain against a 37 per cent average increase in the EU28. But adjusted gross disposable income of households per capita (SDG_10_20 Eurostat) in Spain decreased by 5.6 per cent during that period of time. Therefore, the cost of energy implied a greater effort for the Spanish consumer at the end of 2012. Data for energy expenditure – electricity, gas and other fuels in 2005, 2010 and 2015 – is shown in Table 2 disaggregated by income quintiles.</p></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-full-width-image--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig x paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-full-width-image paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-image--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img src="/sites/default/files/styles/inline_image_full_width/public/2021-03/Table%202.png?itok=S5j4b0XE" width="1200" height="399" alt="Table 2" loading="lazy" class="img-responsive" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-caption--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-caption.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-caption.html.twig * field--string.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-caption field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item">Table 2. Consumption expenditure for electricity, gas and other fuels as a share of income and disposable household income for income quintiles</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-source--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-source.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-source.html.twig * field--string.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-source field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item">Source: (1) Share of income (%) from EPOV https://www.energypoverty.eu/indicators-data; (2) € per capita from https://www.ine.es/</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-text-block--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig * paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-text-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-text--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-text.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--field-text.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Energy expenditure as a share of income is higher for lower income households. Apart from the lower purchasing power, this could also be due to the so-call “poverty premium”; Davies et al. (2016) state that households on low incomes incur extra costs compared with households on higher incomes when purchasing the same energy services. Energy consumption expenditure data are in accordance with previously reported by Tirado and Jiménez Meneses (2016); as shown in the table, energy expenses increase as a share of income from 2005 to 2015. While this is true for all income quintiles, the proportionate increase is more in the lowest quintile than in the highest. Over the same period of time (2005-2015), for the first income quintile energy expenses represent 3.5 per cent of household income in 2005, increasing to 5.3 per cent ten years later, whereas for the top income quintile, energy expenses rise from 2.6 per cent in 2005 to 3.5 per cent ten years later. The percentage increase is higher for the first quintile, probably because the income of the first quintile decreased from 2005 to 2015, whereas the income of the fifth quintile increased.</p> <p>One solution to lower energy costs may be tariff switching, as Antepara et al. (2020b) state in their work. The National Commission on Markets and Competition (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia, CNMC) analysed consumers' knowledge of energy markets, publishing the results in a press release in 2017 (available at <a href="https://www.cnmc.es/en/notas-de-prensa">https://www.cnmc.es/en/notas-de-prensa</a>):</p> <ul> <li>Seven out of ten Spanish households do not know whether their natural gas or electricity supply is on the regulated or open market;</li> <li>41% of Spanish households also do not know what type of electricity tariff they have contracted and 24% do not know what the contracted power – i.e. kW, which is linked to the fixed term of the tariff – is;</li> <li>Electricity suppliers have 56% of domestic customers contracted on their most expensive rates, which is an excessively high percentage, mainly due to the use of misinformation – e.g. by telemarketers or door-to-door sales agents –, and as a consequence the CNMC banned some of these practices.</li> </ul> <p>Also confirmed by the CNMC, the electricity expenditure per month of a household client of the regulated market was 51.6 euro in December 2019 (or 48.9 euros if households on a social tariff are considered). In the free market, the average monthly expenditure on electricity supply was 63 euro per month (excluding expenditure on other billable services such as insurance or maintenance fees, which amount to an additional 5 euro per month). However, if the prices of power and electricity consumption in the regulated market are assigned to the average consumption obtained from free market bills, a monthly expense of 50.5 euro is obtained, i.e. 12.5 euro or 20% less than that invoiced on average to free market households. Although supplier switching rates are high in Spain, more than 10%, surprisingly enough the potential savings are only around 75 euro/year for an average household. In the end, if Spanish consumers’ expectations of potential gains were considerably lower than those available in the market, this means that people in Spain are particularly reluctant to consider a different energy supplier or trust new energy suppliers.</p> <p>Moving to study the effect of these price increases and income shifts on energy poverty indicators, Table 3 is made up of disaggregated data by income deciles based on self-reported experiences of limited access to energy services (based on EU-SILC data), also for the years 2005, 2010 and 2015.</p></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-full-width-image--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig x paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-full-width-image paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-image--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img src="/sites/default/files/styles/inline_image_full_width/public/2021-03/Table%203.png?itok=Xn-mHB4r" width="1200" height="583" alt="Table 3" loading="lazy" class="img-responsive" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-caption--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-caption.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-caption.html.twig * field--string.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-caption field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item">Table 3. Self-reported indicators “Arrears on utility bills” and “Inability to keep home adequately warm” by income decile.</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-source--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-source.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-source.html.twig * field--string.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-source field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item">Source: Population (%) from EPOV https://www.energypoverty.eu/indicators-data</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-text-block--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig * paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-text-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-text--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-text.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--field-text.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Vondung and Thema (2019) described this unsurprising distribution as degression by income deciles, i.e. high shares of energy poor households in the lower income deciles and lower shares in the higher income deciles – which holds especially true for 2015 figures. An overview analysis of inequalities for Spain, including low income, was published by ACA (Asociación de Ciencias Ambientales) in their report of 2018. It is the most up-to-date data for Spain, and the conclusions comparing data in 2007 and 2016 are in accordance with Vondung and Thema (2019).</p> <p>Using household income and/or energy expenditure data (based on Household Budget Survey data), Table 4 gathers objective indicators for 2010 and 2015, and calculated values for 2015 by Romero et al. (2018).</p></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-full-width-image--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig x paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-full-width-image paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-image--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img src="/sites/default/files/styles/inline_image_full_width/public/2021-03/Table%204.png?itok=ZgxpP5Mp" width="1200" height="788" alt="Table 4" loading="lazy" class="img-responsive" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-caption--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-caption.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-caption.html.twig * field--string.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-caption field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item">Table 4. Expenditure-based indicators “Low absolute energy expenditure (M/2)” and “High share of energy expenditure in income (2M)”</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-source--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-source.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-source.html.twig * field--string.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-source field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item">Source: (1) Population (%) from EPOV https://www.energypoverty.eu/indicators-data; (2) Population (%) from Romero et al. (2018), where TPR is Ten-Percent-Rule, LIHC is Low Income High Costs and MIS is Minimum Income Standard</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-text-block--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig * paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-text-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-text--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-text.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--field-text.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The distribution by income deciles again reveals high energy poverty percentages in the lower income deciles. Tirado and Jiménez Meneses (2016) also analysed energy poverty in Spain after the crisis of 2007-08 and during the austerity period that followed. The “Arrears on utility bills” and “Inability to keep home adequately warm” variables indicate a 50 per cent increase in the rate of households affected between 2006 and 2012.</p> <p>Calculated values by Romero et al. (2018) for lower incomes show much higher values for the indicator based on Minimum Income Standard (MIS) than for the 10% indicator, and in their opinion, despite the difficulty of calculating the MIS, these high values are more appropriate because they reflect better the effect of low incomes, and not the effect of high energy bills as with TPR. On the socio-economic factors affecting energy poverty, low-income households with children, paying rent, and with an unstable employment situation are clearly those that are the most vulnerable.</p> <p>Romero et al. (2018) analysed energy poverty through disaggregation by region, since that can also highlight the dependence of the results on climatic or income factors. The ACA report and Tirado and Jiménez Meneses (2016) also performed the same analysis, and both confirm that regions with higher unemployment contain a larger proportion of households with an enforced deficit of domestic energy services as indicated by SILC indicator 'inability to keep the home adequately warm'. Even if milder winters reduce domestic energy needs, it is suspected that homes in Southern Spain and Canary Island are more likely to lack central heating and to be poorly insulated. On the contrary, although the climate conditions are worse than in the South of Spain, Madrid, the Basque region and Navarra are in a better position compared to the other regions in Spain thanks to their higher GDP per capita and regional social benefits.</p> <p>Moving forward, the Spanish energy policy is part of social policy, typically taking the form of financial assistance but only defined for the case of the electricity market. The social tariff was approved in 2009. The 6th October 2017, the Spanish parliament approved Royal Decree 897/2017, regulating the definition of vulnerable consumers, social tariff and other protective measures for domestic consumers of electrical energy. The “vulnerable consumer” is defined as a consumer of electricity in his/her permanent residence whose individual or household annual income is below 1.5 times the Public Income Indicator of Multiple Effects (Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples, IPREM), the indicator of income used by Spanish public administrations to determine access to a series of social protection schemes. This threshold is increased according to household size, if suffering a disability, in case of gender-based violence, or being a victim of terrorism. The rate of the discount, up to a limit on energy consumption, depends on the consumer category.</p> <ol> <li>25% of the electricity bill for the “vulnerable consumer”, as previously described;</li> <li>40% discount for the “severely vulnerable” consumer, i.e. any individual or family with an annual income below 50% of the annual IPREM;</li> <li>50% discount for those who receive the assistance from the social services and are considered as “very severely vulnerable consumer”.</li> </ol> <p>As the Spanish electricity market is regulated, and only biggest retailers are designated as reference retailers, the social tariff can be only offered by those reference retailers. More information is available in a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=19205&amp;langId=en">2018 EU brief</a>.</p> <p>The ACA 2018 report highlighted that less than 50% of households in fuel poverty according to the indicators used by the Spanish Government – mainly income – qualify for this discount rate. For those meeting the requirements for this rate, the assignment of the social tariff is not automatic; rather, households have to apply for it. In the end, this means a large number of potential beneficiaries are not taking the social tariff they qualify for. According to the CNMC, only half of consumers even knew of the existence of the social tariff, and 60% of them were aware of the requirements needed to benefit from it. Apart from lack of information, reasons for not taking up the social tariff include the fear of stigma associated with receiving this benefit.</p> <p>In October 2018, the new government approved the Energy Transition Law, including more changes in the previous electricity social tariff (although no major changes), and announcing the new “heating social bonus” for the beginning of 2019, which is linked to the electricity social tariff. The National Strategy against Energy Poverty 2019–2024 approved by the Spanish Government in March 2019 seeks to reduce the levels of the current energy poverty indicators – arrears on utility bills, inability to keep home adequately warm, hidden energy poverty (HEP), and  high share of energy expenditure in income (2M) – by at least 25% but seeking to reach 50% reduction. The Spanish Government seeks to address a situation that affects between 3.5 and 8.1 million citizens.</p> <p>Costa-Campi et al. (2020) state that the main determinant of energy poverty is fundamentally linked, directly or indirectly, to household income. They conclude that the impact of the characteristics of Spanish homes and climatic conditions is minor, disregarding the fact that energy costs result from a combination of energy performance of the building, energy prices and energy needs due to the climate. As mentioned above, the mild weather conditions in some Spanish regions cannot counteract the low energy efficiency of the building stock and high energy prices. It was also analysed how the energy expenses increase as a share of income from 2005 to 2015, and the increase is proportionally higher for the lower quintiles. To conclude, although household income is key for determining energy poverty levels, more information is captured if ratio between income and energy costs is used.</p> <p>As a result, Costa-Campi et al. (2020) propose that vulnerable (energy) consumers should be preferably protected through mechanisms developed within the framework of the general welfare (social protection) system. This strategy is not without its drawbacks; if the solution to energy poverty is left to current regulation, the high prevalence of non-uptake of the social tariff among qualified customers has already been observed. Different opinions can be found in Spain, e.g. the Alliance Against Energy Poverty (APE) advocates that utilities should pay these benefits, which (in the author's opinion) seems unlikely to happen; most likely, the energy companies will include the amount to pay in the tariff, so that in the end these benefits will be paid by all consumers. Other measures might be more successful, such as the energy efficiency obligation scheme included in the Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU).</p> <p>APE's advocacy for an end to supply disconnections for vulnerable consumers speaks to an important protection for the energy poor. According to the new law, electricity cuts are only allowed after a waiting period of four months after invoice issue for vulnerable customers, but are in no way allowed for vulnerable customers who are at risk of social exclusion. In all cases, social services have to be given advance notice of pending disconnections. In this way, the regulatory protection against power cuts places all responsibility in the hands of local administrations, and it will not be possible to protect the most vulnerable families from cuts if the local administration fails to cover its share of the social tariff. Unfortunately, there are no official statistics to know the magnitude of the problem; the most relevant data available are only recorded since 2016 and are collected in Table 5. This data shows that each year, somewhere between 1% and 2% of households who were unable to keep their homes adequately warm had lost access to a usual source of energy over the prior 12 months.</p></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-full-width-image--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig x paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-full-width-image paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-image--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img src="/sites/default/files/styles/inline_image_full_width/public/2021-03/Table%205.png?itok=Nhj9sGO0" width="1200" height="541" alt="Table 5" loading="lazy" class="img-responsive" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-caption--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-caption.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-caption.html.twig * field--string.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-caption field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item">Table 5. Available data for power cuts and self-disconnect: Population (%) answering yes to the question: When unable to keep home adequately warm, in the last 12 months and due to financial difficulties, did the household cease to have any of its usual s</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-pg-source--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-pg-source.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-full-width-image.html.twig * field--field-pg-source.html.twig * field--string.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-pg-source field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item">Source: data collected by the National Statistics Institute https://www.ine.es/en/index.htm within the Living Conditions Survey – variable H38a_U -</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-text-block--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig * paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-text-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-text--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-text.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--field-text.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Not surprisingly, according to the report from ACA in 2018, the income deciles most affected by the lack of energy supply are the lowest ones.</p> <p> </p> <h2><strong>Low incomes and energy poverty in the policy debate in Spain</strong></h2> <p>While acknowledging its negative effects, the crisis of COVID-19 is an unprecedented opportunity for field studies on different aspects. In 2020, as an aid package against the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Royal Decree-Law included a prohibition on interrupting the supply of electrical energy in any home considered to be a first home, through the end of May 2021. Studying the number of power disconnections in 2020-2021 month by month will likely reveal whether the number of power cuts has only been delayed and finally concentrated in the end of this period.</p> <p>Another unusual measure that could have a significant impact on energy poverty levels, also recently approved by the Spanish Parliament, is the Minimum Vital Income (Ingreso Mínimo Vital, IMV), a guaranteed minimum income scheme. Before COVID-19, only two regions in Spain had something similar with a generalized implementation, the Basque Country and Navarra. As explained above, energy poverty indicators report significantly lower levels in these two regions, despite their colder climate. After the IMV has been fully developed, this measure is likely to decrease energy poverty rates, in parallel to the relatively low poverty rates in the regions where a similar measure had already been implemented.</p> <p>This exceptional occasion will serve to test the effectiveness of social protection through income increases. But it will not help understand the effect of preventive measures for energy poverty, which in Spain are very scarce, especially for low-income households. However, by looking at the data for households living in well-insulated housing, such as social housing, it would be possible to analyse data by income distribution to see if lower-income households successfully move out of energy poverty.</p> <p>There are other situations where vulnerable households have low energy consumption, but not because they live in well-insulated dwellings: when they restrict their energy consumption due to economic difficulties, a so-called "underconsumption" of energy. The issue was first studied in the Basque rental social housing by Antepara et al. (2020a). It will also be a subject of study for the Union Urban Innovative Action EPIU, carried out in Getafe (Madrid, Spain). Supported by the European Commission, the main challenge of the project will be to identify and fight hidden energy poverty (HEP).</p></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-references--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-references.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig x paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-references paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-text--pb-references.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-text.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-references.html.twig * field--field-text.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">References</div> <div class="field--item"><p>ACER (2016) ACER Market Monitoring Report 2015 - ELECTRICITY AND GAS RETAIL MARKETS. November. Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators and the Council of European Energy Regulators. Available at: <a href="https://www.acer.europa.eu/Official_documents/Acts_of_the_Agency/Publication/ACER%20Market%20Monitoring%20Report%202015%20-%20ELECTRICITY%20AND%20GAS%20RETAIL%20MARKETS.pdf">https://www.acer.europa.eu/Official_documents/Acts_of_the_Agency/Publication/ACER%20Market%20Monitoring%20Report%202015%20-%20ELECTRICITY%20AND%20GAS%20RETAIL%20MARKETS.pdf</a>.</p> <p>Antepara, I., Papada, L., Gouveia, J. P., Katsoulakos, N., &amp; Kaliampakos, D. (2020a). Improving Energy Poverty Measurement in Southern European Regions through Equivalization of Modeled Energy Costs. <em>Sustainability</em>, 12(14), 5721. Available at: <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5721">https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5721</a></p> <p>Antepara, I., Claeyé, F., Lopez, A., Robyns, B., (2020b) Collaborating with social services through energy advice: innovative case from Spain. Ways of improving through smart meters. <em>Revista Vasca de la Economía Social</em> (accepted article)</p> <p>ASOCIACIÓN, D. C. A. (2016). Pobreza energética en España. Nuevos enfoques de análisis. Available at: <a href="https://niunhogarsinenergia.org/panel/uploads/documentos/estudio%20pobreza%20energetica_aca_2016.pdf">https://niunhogarsinenergia.org/panel/uploads/documentos/estudio%20pobreza%20energetica_aca_2016.pdf</a></p> <p>ASOCIACIÓN, D. C. A. (2018). Pobreza energética en España. Hacia un sistema de indicadores y una estrategia de actuación estatales. Available at: <a href="https://niunhogarsinenergia.org/panel/uploads/documentos/informe%20pobreza%20energ%C3%A9tica%202018.pdf">https://niunhogarsinenergia.org/panel/uploads/documentos/informe%20pobreza%20energ%C3%A9tica%202018.pdf</a></p> <p>CNMC, Panel de Hogares de la Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), Available online:  <a href="http://data.cnmc.es/datagraph/">http://data.cnmc.es/datagraph/</a> (accessed on 25 July 2020)</p> <p>Costa-Campi, M. T., Jové-Llopis, E., &amp; Trujillo-Baute, E. (2019). Energy poverty in Spain: an income approach analysis. <em>Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy, 14</em>(7-9), 327-340. DOI: 10.1080/15567249.2019.1710624</p> <p>Davies, S., Finney, A., &amp; Hartfree, Y. (2016). Paying to be poor: Uncovering the scale and nature of the poverty premium. <em>University of Bristol, Personal Finance Research Centre: Bristol, UK</em>. Available at: <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/geography/pfrc/pfrc1615-poverty-premium-report.pdf">https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/geography/pfrc/pfrc1615-poverty-premium-report.pdf</a></p> <p>Dubois, U., &amp; Meier, H. (2016). Energy affordability and energy inequality in Europe: Implications for policymaking. Energy Research &amp; Social Science, 18, 21-35. DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2016.04.015</p> <p>European Commission EU Energy Poverty Observatory 2018. Available online: <a href="https://www.energypoverty.eu/">https://www.energypoverty.eu/</a> (accessed on 25 July 2020)</p> <p>Romero, J. C., Linares, P., &amp; López, X. (2018). The policy implications of energy poverty indicators. Energy policy, 115, 98-108. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.12.054</p> <p>Tirado, S., &amp; Jiménez Meneses, L. (2016). Energy poverty, crisis and austerity in Spain. <em>People, Place and Policy, 10</em>(1), 42-56. Available at: <a href="https://extra.shu.ac.uk/ppp-online/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/energy-poverty-crisis-austerity-spain.pdf">https://extra.shu.ac.uk/ppp-online/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/energy-poverty-crisis-austerity-spain.pdf</a></p> <p>Vondung, F., &amp; Thema, J. (2019). Energy poverty in the EU: indicators as a base for policy action. Available at <a href="https://epub.wupperinst.org/files/7345/7345_Vondung.pdf">https://epub.wupperinst.org/files/7345/7345_Vondung.pdf</a></p> <p> </p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-comments--article.html.twig * field--node--field-comments.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-comments.html.twig x field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/field--comment.html.twig' --> <div class="comments_wrapper"> <section class="container"> </section> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/field--comment.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-article-citation-info--article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-citation-info.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-article-citation-info.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-article-citation-info field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Citation instruction</div> <div class="field--item"><p>Antepara, I. (2021) Energy poverty and low income in Spain, EP-pedia, ENGAGER COST Action.</p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> Tue, 16 Mar 2021 22:35:54 +0000 ute.dubois 242 at http://www.eppedia.eu http://www.eppedia.eu/article/energy-poverty-and-low-income-spain#comments Screening of best practices in Spain http://www.eppedia.eu/article/screening-best-practices-spain <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Screening of best practices in Spain</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Author</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/authors/antepara-inigo" hreflang="en">Antepara Iñigo</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>ute.dubois</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span>Sun, 01/31/2021 - 19:22</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-affiliation--article.html.twig * field--node--field-affiliation.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-affiliation.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-affiliation field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Affiliation</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/93" hreflang="en">University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) (Spain)</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-first-published-date--article.html.twig * field--node--field-first-published-date.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-first-published-date.html.twig * field--datetime.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-first-published-date field--type-datetime field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">First published date</div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-01-31T12:00:00Z">2021.01.31</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-last-updated-date--article.html.twig * field--node--field-last-updated-date.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-last-updated-date.html.twig * field--datetime.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-last-updated-date field--type-datetime field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Last updated date</div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-01-31T12:00:00Z">2021.01.31</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-theme--article.html.twig * field--node--field-theme.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-theme.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-theme field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Theme</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/94" hreflang="en">Best practices</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/81" hreflang="en">Social tariff</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/87" hreflang="en">Covid-19</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/95" hreflang="en">Energy advice</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/96" hreflang="en">General framing</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/97" hreflang="en">Curative measures</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/98" hreflang="en">Preventive measures</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-article-download--article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-download.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-article-download.html.twig * field--file.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-article-download field--type-file field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Article download</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'file_link' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/file-link.html.twig' --> <span class="file file--mime-application-pdf file--application-pdf icon-before"><span class="file-icon"><span class="icon glyphicon glyphicon-file text-primary" aria-hidden="true"></span></span><span class="file-link"><a href="http://www.eppedia.eu/sites/default/files/2021-01/Antepara_2021_Screening%20of%20best%20practices%20in%20Spain_EP-pedia.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=138694" title="Open file in new window" target="_blank">Antepara_2021_Screening of best practices in Spain_EP-pedia</a></span><span class="file-size">135.44 KB</span></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/file-link.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-page-elements--article.html.twig * field--node--field-page-elements.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-page-elements.html.twig * field--entity-reference-revisions.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-page-elements field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden field--items"> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-text-block--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig * paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-text-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-text--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-text.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-text-block.html.twig * field--field-text.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><h2>Perspective on best practices in the policy debate</h2> <p>The social tariff for electricity in Spain was first approved in 2009. On 6 October 2017 (Marbán and Rodríguez 2018), the Spanish parliament approved Royal Decree 897/2017, which legislates on the definition of vulnerable consumers, social bonuses and other protective measures for domestic consumers of electrical energy. So, within Spanish energy poverty policy, social policy typically takes the form of financial assistance but energy vulnerability is only defined for the case of the electricity market. Low-income households have to apply for the social tariff; it is not awarded automatically.</p> <p>There is an energy poverty <a href="https://www.gipuzkoa.eus/es/web/ingurumena/energia/observatorio-pobreza-energetica">observatory in the province of Guipuzcoa</a>, but no national energy poverty observatory. In 2018, the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid, created the <a href="https://www.comillas.edu/es/catedra-de-energia-y-pobreza">Chair of Energy and Poverty</a> with the collaboration of a group of companies in the energy sector and social partners.</p> <p>In October 2018, the new Spanish government launched the Climate Change and Energy Transition Bill (Gobierno de España, 2018), including some minor changes in the previous electricity social tariff, and announcing the new “heating social bonus” for the beginning of 2019, which will be linked to the electricity social tariff. The Law was finally approved in 2020.</p> <p>Until 2019, no public institution was producing statistics regarding the situation of energy poverty in Spain, except the aforementioned observatory in the north of Spain, and some municipalities. This function has otherwise been carried out by a private non-institutional association, ACA (<a href="https://www.cienciasambientales.org.es/index.php/iniciope">Asociación de Ciencias Ambientales</a>), without public support.</p> <p>Approved by the Spanish Government in March 2019, the National Strategy against Energy Poverty 2019 - 2024 (Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica, 2019) seeks to address a situation that affects between 3.5 and 8.1 million citizens, with a goal of reducing the values of current energy poverty indicators by at least 25% and ideally by 50%. Some best practices from other European countries are included in the document approved, such as the financial mechanisms in UK (<em>Warm Home Discount, Winter Fuel Payment, etc.</em>) and the automatic qualification of eligible households for social tariffs as in Portugal, the energy efficiency programs in France (<em>Habiter mieux</em>) and also in UK (<em>Warm Front Scheme</em>), and the institutional body in France (<em>L'Observatoire National de la Précarite Énergétique</em> [ONPE]).</p> <p>During the Covid-19 crisis, as part of an aid package, Spain introduced a new beneficiary category for its social tariff for electricity, i.e., self-employed workers who lost their job (Mastropietro et al. 2020). The government has also automatically extended the social electricity tariff until 30 September 2020, as it has to be renewed every 2 years, so that vulnerable beneficiaries do not have to go to administrative offices to maintain their enrolment. Furthermore, the Royal Decree-Law 11/2020 has extended, until 9 May 2021, the prohibition on interrupting the supply of electrical energy in homes that are considered to be first homes. The deadlines for utilities against households not paying their bills in this period are scheduled to start from that date.</p> <p>Two regional institutions, one in Aragon and the other in Cataluña, tried to promote laws against energy poverty in 2015. In the Catalan region, the <a href="http://pobresaenergetica.es/es/">Alliance Against Energy Poverty</a> (APE) was very active against the issue, and was the first civil society alliance to raise the problem of energy poverty to public debate. In 2016, the public reaction to this unjust situation was ignited by the tragic death of 81-year-old Rosa from the city of Reus, who died in a fire caused by a candle she was using to light her home after Naturgy (former Gas Natural Fenosa) had cut off her electricity. As a consequence, Catalan government tried to give answer to the claims of APE, but the Spanish government did not allow Catalan law going ahead.</p> <p>At a municipal level, the city of Cádiz is one of the more active and has its own Plan of Action against energy poverty. The Cádiz City Council promoted the <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/tni/julio-camacho/tc-cadiz-energy-poverty">Cádiz Energy Transition Working Group</a> for civil society participation, as well as the Working Group on Energy Poverty. Both were set up to find ways to achieve a fair energy transition. Local energy forums and surveys are being used to ensure that the needs, knowledge and experiences of ordinary people are prioritised in creating this transition. Cádiz is one of the few cities in Spain to have its own municipal energy company, Eléctrica de Cádiz, which supplies and distributes electricity. Now established activists working within the local party are attempting to transform the company into an institution run by and for the city’s inhabitants. In 2018, in just three months, the plan has run 60 workshops, given 640 people training on energy issues, and advised 70 families in their homes, reducing their electricity bills by 20-50%.</p> <p>Barcelona launched its own municipal energy company, <a href="https://energia.barcelona/en/barcelona-energia-municipal-electricity-company">Barcelona Energy</a>, in 2018. This is a public metropolitan electricity operator that supplies renewable electricity to the City Council and other municipal companies, as well as street lighting. Among its goals, it was stated to “have an active role in the energy market to make it more fair, efficient and sustainable”. This includes providing electricity to families in difficulties.</p> <p>In contrast to the insufficient response of the Spanish government, some private institutions, most of them around the third sector, were pioneers in this field. For example, Ecoserveis participated in the first European project: <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/projects/en/projects/epee">European Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency</a> (EPEE) over 10 years ago.</p> <p> </p> <h2>Private institutions contribute to best practices formulation</h2> <p>Best practices come mainly from private associations, filling in some of the gaps in public policy.</p> <h3><strong>General framing</strong></h3> <p>As mentioned above, the only research studies on energy poverty in Spain were produced by ACA (<em>Asociación de Ciencias Ambientales</em>). These were supported by a crowdfunding campaign.</p> <p>Other collaborations between civil society associations, such as <a href="http://www.nuevomodeloenergetico.org/pgs2/">Platform for a New Energy Model</a>, are active in the public debates related to energy poverty in Spain.</p> <h3><strong>Advocacy</strong></h3> <p>Since its inception, APE has worked to stop water and energy supply cuts in Catalonia, and have confronted the large multinationals of the water, electricity and gas sectors to demand access to water and energy. For APE, access to basic supplies such as energy and water is a fundamental human right. Together with the PAH (<a href="http://www.energy-democracy.net/?p=1131">Platform for People Affected by Mortgages</a>) and the Observatory DESC, as well as many other entities and groups, APE has worked to promote and pass a law that has stopped more than 40,000 supply cuts in Catalonia. APE has developed into a mutual support network that accompanies affected people, and an important channel for political education and change.</p> <h3><strong>Curative measures</strong></h3> <p>The three oldest associations working in this field, ECODES, ACA and ECOSERVEIS, have multiple programs and activities. We include here the three Spanish winners of the "Social Innovation to Tackle Fuel Poverty" programme – i.e. ECODES, ACA and AEIOLUZ – and two additional interesting initiatives. The following serves only as an example of initiatives.</p> <p><a href="https://niunhogarsinenergia.org/">ECODES</a> – an organisation that runs the project “<em>Ni un hogar sin energía</em>” (“No home without energy”), which offers a technological solution to overcome fuel poverty. Its website includes a questionnaire that manages to gather social, household, and energy contract data from vulnerable people and returns a personalised report with advice on how to reduce energy consumption and energy costs. It also offers an interactive map that allows anyone to find initiatives and subsidies to tackle fuel poverty in their city or region.</p> <p><a href="https://www.cienciasambientales.org.es/index.php/iniciopice">ACA</a> – an organisation working on PICE (<em>Puntos de Información al Consumidor Energético</em>) networks to empower people in the use of domestic energy and reduce the risk of falling into fuel poverty. It is a network of information points composed by heterogeneous organisations that provide information to their population from their own premises.</p> <p><a href="https://aeioluz.com/pobreza-energetica/">AEIOLUZ</a> – an energy service provider cooperative that aims to end energy poverty and serve as a tool to change the current model towards a more sustainable one. It focuses on energy counselling and training for schools, municipalities, NGOs, and private companies to learn about energy efficiency, renewable energies, active energy management, and intelligent energy networks.</p> <p><a href="https://habitatge.barcelona/en/housing-services/problems-paying-your-home/energy-rights">ECOSERVEIS</a> – if not the first working on energy poverty in Spain, one of the first. The city council of Barcelona built a joint initiative with the third sector to promote insertion of long-term unemployed people while fighting against fuel poverty; it thus deals with information obstacles and at the same time improves the capabilities of long-term unemployed. It follows the same approach as the Soleni project in Grenoble (France). A similar idea was funded by the European Commission, the Energy Check for Low Income Households (EC-LINC)</p> <p><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/HarrietThomson/collaboration-with-social-services-to-analyse-data-from-energy-bills-and-advice-best-electricity-tariffs-of-designated-households">GoiEne</a>r – an energy cooperative that does not manage contracts of families in a situation of fuel poverty as they cannot offer the social tariff (as it is a non-reference retailer), but engaged in a collaboration with the social services of two municipalities to help low-income households in tariff switching. After reviewing household energy bills, GoiEner organised workshops in energy advice, aiming to build an autonomous dynamic at the social services. To do so, social services and families were trained on the issue of electricity bills. The basic idea is to start the dynamics of the intervention and afterwards it will continue alone with minimum assistance from GoiEner.</p> <h3><strong>Preventive measures</strong></h3> <p>To the author's knowledge, there is little interesting currently available in the realm of preventative measures for energy poverty, such as renovation programs of the building stock that aim to target low-income households. Some local programs exist, although there is no national plan, and none of the local programs are focused on families in difficulties. Nothing focusing on private rental situations exists.</p> <p>Discussion on the side effects of low-carbon policies is not yet on the agenda. Within the discussion of the energy transition in Spain, the fact that low-income families do not normally have access to direct benefits of these low-carbon programmes, and may even suffer adverse effects such as low-carbon gentrification, has not yet been taken into account.</p> <p> </p> <h2>Research perspective on best practices in Spain</h2> <p>The following is a list of on-going projects, interesting from the point of view of the author.</p> <h3><strong>General framing</strong></h3> <p>Fortunately, there are works taking into account gender aspects of energy poverty in Spain (Sánchez et al. 2020), e.g. thanks to Carmen Sánchez-Guevara, a researcher at the Technical University of Madrid. Also, within the H2020 call LC-SC3-EC-2-2018-2019-2020 - Mitigating household energy poverty, the project “Empowering women to take action against energy poverty in the Mediterranean” was approved. Project participants include the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Energy Research Institute of Catalonia (IREC), and the Catalan chapter of Engineers Without Borders (in close relationship with APE).</p> <p>Taking into account the dynamic role women play in an economy, the EmpowerMed programme will connect women with health practitioners in a series of awareness pilot programmes to reduce energy poverty, assess its impact on health, and share knowledge for policy building at local and EU-wide level.</p> <p>For more information: <a href="https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/847052">https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/847052</a></p> <p>Supported by the European Union, the Urban Innovative Action's EPIU (Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit) is being carried out in Getafe (Madrid, Spain). Apart from the municipality of Getafe, the Technical University of Madrid, the utility Naturgy, and ACA are also participating in the project.</p> <p>Getafe's main challenge is to identify and fight hidden energy poverty (HEP). Between 15% and 30% of the Getafe's population could be affected by energy poverty, although only 1991 families seek support from the City Council. Energy poverty is usually defined by the percentage of rent that a household dedicates to energy consumption, but for EPIU energy poverty implies that people are unable to keep their household at a comfortable temperature whether it is because they cannot pay for a sufficient amount of energy for its domestic needs and/or because it is forced to allocate an excessive part of its income to these needs. This situation is aggravated by the economic situation of Getafe, whose average income is €5071 lower than the rest of the Madrid Region. In addition, 52% of its current housing stock was built between the 1960s and 1980s with low quality and energy efficiency standards and without heating systems in most cases. The city has two Urban Deprived Areas and Neighbourhoods declared as critical areas for the rehabilitation and regeneration by Madrid’s regional government. These two areas have an increased incidence of energy poverty and are inhabited mainly by elderly and migrants.</p> <p>For more information: <a href="https://www.uia-initiative.eu/en/uia-cities/getafe">https://www.uia-initiative.eu/en/uia-cities/getafe</a></p> <p>Studies on children and energy poverty have also been initiated (Gonzalez, 2020), thanks to Irene Gonzalez and the Catalan chapter of Engineers Without Borders.</p> <h3><strong>Curative measures</strong></h3> <p>Also, within the H2020 call LC-SC3-EC-2-2018-2019-2020 the project “Empowering Energy Poor Citizens through Joint Energy Initiatives” was awarded to GoiEner energy cooperative, among others.</p> <p>The main objective of POWERPOOR is to develop support programmes/schemes for energy poor citizens and to encourage the use of alternative financing schemes (e.g. establishing energy communities / cooperatives, crowd funding).</p> <p>Members of energy cooperatives are a key part of the whole history of energy poverty alleviation, including both worker-member as well as members volunteering, building a volunteer-assisted energy advisory mechanism in the choice of electricity tariffs/prices to support social services working with vulnerable households.</p> <p>For more information: <a href="https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/890437">https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/890437</a></p> <h3><strong>Preventive measures</strong></h3> <p>Led by the Andalusian Energy Agency, the European Commission approved the POWERTY project in the framework of the Interreg Europe 2014-2020 Programme.</p> <p>The general objective of POWERTY is to increase the use of renewable energies in vulnerable groups. This way, thanks to the project, new renewable energy installations will be facilitated to provide safe and clean energy to vulnerable households. In addition, POWERTY will encourage companies supplying renewable energies to offer technological solutions that are adapted to vulnerable groups, activating their corporate social responsibility.</p> <p>For more information: <a href="https://www.interregeurope.eu/powerty/">https://www.interregeurope.eu/powerty/</a></p></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph--pb_text_block.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'paragraph' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * paragraph--pb-references--default.html.twig * paragraph--pb-references.html.twig * paragraph--default.html.twig x paragraph.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-references paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--paragraph--field-text--pb-references.html.twig * field--paragraph--field-text.html.twig * field--paragraph--pb-references.html.twig * field--field-text.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-text field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">References</div> <div class="field--item"><p>ASOCIACIÓN, D. C. A. (2016). Pobreza energética en España. Nuevos enfoques de análisis.</p> <p>ASOCIACIÓN, D. C. A. (2018). Pobreza energética en España. Hacia un sistema de indicadores y una estrategia de actuación estatales.</p> <p>Antepara, I., Claeye, F. (2016) "Examples of Social Business effectively addressing Fuel Poverty by overcoming the barriers when implementing Energy Efficiency measures", Social Business Academia Conference, November 2016, Paris (France)</p> <p>Antepara, I., Claeye, F., Lopez, A., Robyns, B. (2020) "Fighting against fuel poverty by collaborating with social services through energy advice: An innovative case from Spain", Gizarte Ekonomiaren Euskal Aldizkaria/Revista Vasca de Economía Social, 2020, 17, 71-96</p> <p>Marbán, V. Rodríguez, G. (2018) EUROPEAN SOCIAL POLICY NETWORK Flash Report 2018/13</p> <p>Gabiola, E. J., Gázquez, J. D. P., &amp; Rodríguez, J. A. S. (2016). El bono social y las cooperativas energéticas verdes: situación y perspectivas. REVESCO. Revista de Estudios Cooperativos, (122), 165-190.</p> <p>Gobierno de España (2018), “Proyecto de Ley de cambio climático y transición energética”. Available at <a href="http://www.congreso.es/public_oficiales/L14/CONG/BOCG/A/BOCG-14-A-19-1.PDF">http://www.congreso.es/public_oficiales/L14/CONG/BOCG/A/BOCG-14-A-19-1.PDF</a></p> <p>Gonzalez, I. (2020) Impacts of energy precariousness on children and adolescents. Engineering without Border. Available at <a href="https://bit.ly/ESFeres27-Summary-Eng">https://bit.ly/ESFeres27-Summary-Eng</a></p> <p>Mastropietro, P., Rodilla, P., &amp; Batlle, C. (2020). Emergency Measures to Protect Energy Consumers During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Global Review and Critical Analysis. Energy Research &amp; Social Science, Volume 68, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101678">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101678</a></p> <p>Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica (2019) Estrategia nacional contra la pobreza energética 2019-2024. Available at <a href="https://www.miteco.gob.es/es/prensa/estrategianacionalcontralapobrezaenergetica2019-2024_tcm30-496282.pdf">https://www.miteco.gob.es/es/prensa/estrategianacionalcontralapobrezaenergetica2019-2024_tcm30-496282.pdf</a></p> <p>Sánchez, C. S. G., Fernández, A. S., &amp; Peiró, M. N. (2020). Feminisation of energy poverty in the city of Madrid. Energy and Buildings, Volume 223. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110157">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110157</a></p> <p>Sifres, V. P., Rodrigo, P. L., &amp; Aristizábal, A. B. (2016). Supporting Grassroots-Led Initiatives in the Spanish Energy Field Through Transformative Education for Sustainable Development. In Engaging Stakeholders in Education for Sustainable Development at University Level (pp. 61-76). Springer, Cham.</p> <p>Tirado, S., &amp; Jiménez Meneses, L. (2016). Energy poverty, crisis and austerity in Spain. People, Place and Policy, 10(1), 42-56. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3351/ppp.0010.0001.0004">https://doi.org/10.3351/ppp.0010.0001.0004</a></p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/paragraph.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-comments--article.html.twig * field--node--field-comments.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-comments.html.twig x field--comment.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/field--comment.html.twig' --> <div class="comments_wrapper"> <section class="container"> </section> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/epptheme/templates/field--comment.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-article-citation-info--article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-citation-info.html.twig * field--node--article.html.twig * field--field-article-citation-info.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-article-citation-info field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Citation instruction</div> <div class="field--item"><p>Antepara, I. (2021). Screening of best practices in Spain. <em>EP-pedia, ENGAGER COST Action.</em></p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> Sun, 31 Jan 2021 19:22:38 +0000 ute.dubois 230 at http://www.eppedia.eu http://www.eppedia.eu/article/screening-best-practices-spain#comments Antepara Iñigo http://www.eppedia.eu/authors/antepara-inigo <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--author-profile.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--author-profile.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Antepara Iñigo</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--author-profile.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--author-profile.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>ute.dubois</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--author-profile.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--author-profile.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span>Mon, 10/26/2020 - 18:37</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-photo--author-profile.html.twig * field--node--field-photo.html.twig * field--node--author-profile.html.twig * field--field-photo.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-photo field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <img src="/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/2020-10/Inigo%20Antepara_Photo.png?itok=WWZbCGPV" width="176" height="220" alt="Antepara Photo" loading="lazy" class="img-responsive" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/system/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/image/templates/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-contact-email--author-profile.html.twig * field--node--field-contact-email.html.twig * field--node--author-profile.html.twig * field--field-contact-email.html.twig * field--email.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-contact-email field--type-email field--label-hidden field--item">inigoantepara@hotmail.com</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-affiliation--author-profile.html.twig * field--node--field-affiliation.html.twig * field--node--author-profile.html.twig * field--field-affiliation.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-affiliation field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Affiliation</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item">University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) (Spain)</div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-professional-background--author-profile.html.twig * field--node--field-professional-background.html.twig * field--node--author-profile.html.twig * field--field-professional-background.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-professional-background field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field--label">Professional background</div> <div class="field--item"><p>Iñigo's research focuses on public energy poverty policies, primarily at the municipal level. He is also working on the effects of energy poverty on health.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Publications </strong></p> <p>Antepara, I., Papada, L., Gouveia, J. P., Katsoulakos, N., &amp; Kaliampakos, D. (2020). Improving Energy Poverty Measurement in Southern European Regions through Equivalization of Modeled Energy Costs. Sustainability, 12(14), 5721.</p> <p>Antepara, I., Claeyé, F., Lopez, A., Robyns, B., (2020) Collaborating with social services through energy advice: innovative case from Spain. Ways of improving through smart meters. Revista Vasca de la Economía Social (accepted article)</p> <p>Garcia, P.;Orbea, C.;Sagasti, G.;Antepara, I.;Hidalgo, J.M.;Hernadez, P. (2019) “Plan Zero plana: alta eficiencia en alquiler público”, Conference Proceedings: VI Congreso EECN, pag. 25-30</p> <p>And more than 10 publications on Building Materials and Materials Engineering</p> <p> </p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> Mon, 26 Oct 2020 18:37:56 +0000 ute.dubois 199 at http://www.eppedia.eu