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Fuel poverty Madrid, 10 December 2014 Brenda Boardman Emeritus Fellow

Fuel poverty Madrid, 10 December 2014 Brenda Boardman Emeritus Fellow. Energy is an unusual commodity. Want energy services: warmth, cold food, lit rooms Obtained by converting energy (gas or electricity) in a piece of capital equipment: central heating boiler, fridge, light bulb

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Fuel poverty Madrid, 10 December 2014 Brenda Boardman Emeritus Fellow

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  1. Fuel povertyMadrid, 10 December 2014Brenda BoardmanEmeritus Fellow

  2. Energy is an unusual commodity • Want energy services: warmth, cold food, lit rooms • Obtained by converting energy (gas or electricity) in a piece of capital equipment: central heating boiler, fridge, light bulb • Energy services are cheap if the equipment is energy efficient • Fuels cannot be substituted – cannot burn gas in a light bulb • New equipment and insulation require capital • Poor have no capital, no savings – it has to be someone else’s money

  3. Symptoms of fuel poverty – not the causes • High level of fuel debts • Supply of gas or electricity cut off by the utility (disconnection) • Cold homes, illness and deaths in winter • Only heating part of the home during the winter • In Europe, fuel poverty and energy poverty are the same thing Presentation title, edit in header and footer (view menu)

  4. Affordable warmth } { 10% of income for all energy services Energy efficiency of the dwelling 24 hour mean internal temperature of 18°C (+ other energy services)

  5. Policy choices, fuel poverty and climate change

  6. Identifying the fuel poor • Have low income AND energy inefficient home • Most proxies are inadequate; • Social characteristics (eg age) • Income level (receipt of means-tested welfare payments) • Energy efficiency of the home (audit) • Have to combine the last two, on an address-specific basis

  7. Who are the vulnerable? • 72% of UK households contain a vulnerable person • Young • Elderly • Sick • Disabled • Used in European definition of energy poverty • Unhelpful word, unless very tightly defined, eg only under 5 years, or over 75 years, even so - • Neither income nor energy efficiency included

  8. Political choices • Different definitions of income favour pensioners OR families, unlikely to do both • Disposable income, after paying the rent, favours families • Adjusting income for the size of the household, favours families

  9. Income + housing Low income High income Energy inefficient housing Energy efficient housing

  10. Defining fuel poverty vs identifying fuel poor • Fuel poor are the poorest people in the least energy efficient homes • Lot of options for definition • OK for modelling, often useless on the doorstep • Monitoring and delivery are two very different tasks • Start with how to identify, eg • Individual properties • Areas of deprivation • Who gets a 100% grant? Presentation title, edit in header and footer (view menu)

  11. Minimum housing standards

  12. Effect of tenure and grant size • Are you giving grants to poor people, even when they have rich landlords? • Or are you making the rich landlord improve the property? • How do you protect the poor tenant from a rent increase? • Are you improving a few properties to a high standard? • Or are you improving more properties to a lower standard?

  13. Raising the money for grants • Is this from general taxation, via The Treasury? • Progressive, as poor often pay no tax • Or is it being funded by the utilities, via all customers? • Regressive, as fuel poor have to contribute, whether or not they benefit • How quickly will you upgrade all fuel poor homes? • To what standard? • So, what is the budget?

  14. Résumé • Fuel poor are difficult to find • Need comprehensive policies on incomes and housing • Define • Budget • Timescale • Focus on delivery, rather than definition

  15. Thank you Brenda.Boardman@ouce.ox.ac.uk

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