The Secretariat provides guidelines to tackle energy poverty

Effectively tackling the multifaceted challenge of energy poverty has become more urgent than ever.  Rapidly rising energy prices and inflation have pushed more people into energy poverty and worsened their living standards. This is a growing concern in particular for the Energy Community Contracting Parties where citizens already suffer from energy poverty. The recommendations published today by the Secretariat are designed to assist the Contracting Parties in putting in place targeted policies and measures to tackle energy poverty.  

The Policy Guidelines set out short and long-term measures on how to address energy poverty effectively in line with the energy transition goals. The guidance also provides recommendations on how to identify and measure the number of energy poor as a necessary first step to establish benchmarks and measure progress. The proposed measures are especially tailored to the situation in the Energy Community Contracting Parties.

The Centre for Alleviating Energy Poverty was established in January 2022 with a view to collect data and information related to the causes and impact of energy poverty in the Energy Community Contracting Parties, promote the development of appropriate policies and measures for reducing energy poverty and provide a platform for discussion among the relevant energy sector stakeholders in the Energy Community.