The Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB) has published the IEB Report 3/2023, entitled “Energy poverty”. Coordinated by Dr. María Teresa Costa, director of the Chair of Energy Sustainability at the UB, the document analyses the problem of energy poverty in developed countries from a range of perspectives.

In recent years, energy poverty has entered the sociopolitical landscape, especially following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the wake of the current energy crisis. Empirical evidence confirms that energy poverty is the result not only of the presence of low family incomes, but also of the combination of high energy prices, the low energy efficiency of buildings and installations, and the lack of consumer awareness regarding energy issues. This situation has had serious consequences for health, increasing levels of social exclusion and exerting a negative impact on the general well-being of families.

The document includes three papers that address the issue from different perspectives. The first, by Elisa Trujillo-Baute, professor at the University of Lleida and associate researcher at the IEB, is entitled “Energy poverty in Spain: a chronic and structural problem”. The second, “Energy poverty in times of crisis: the impact of COVID-19 and the energy crisis in the United Kingdom” is by Andrew Burlinson of the University of Sheffield and Monica Giuletti of the University of Nottingham. The last one, “Prepaid electricity meters, vulnerability and debt”, is by Daire McCoy of the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics.