European Economic
and Social Committee
ENERGY POVERTY LEAVES PEOPLE EXCLUDED
Energy poverty is not just about struggling to heat a home in winter. It can also mean being unable to afford cooling during a heatwave or living in a poorly insulated flat with no say over improvement. Research by the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory (ORSE) reveals how households can struggle, yet remain invisible to support schemes. EESC and ORSE member and energy and sustainability expert Corina Murafa talked to EESC Info about these gaps and what needs to change to make Europe’s energy transition fairer.
Energy poverty is often associated with households unable to afford heating in winter. What other forms does it take, and what does your work with ORSE reveal about the scale and complexity of the problem in Romania?
Unfortunately, energy poverty is far from black and white. If it were simply a matter of households struggling to pay their heating bills we would have solved it long ago. At the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory (ORSE) we encounter many less visible forms of vulnerability. Let me highlight three.
First, summer energy poverty. With increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves, a household with an otherwise decent income may suddenly face electricity bills five times higher than usual just to maintain safe indoor temperatures. For families with children or elderly members, cooling is not a luxury but a health necessity. These additional costs can temporarily push households below relative poverty threshold.
Second, hidden energy poverty. Some households have effectively given up on meeting their basic energy needs. They consume abnormally little, not because their homes are efficient but because they cannot afford adequate heating, cooling or other essential services.
Third, administrative invisibility. Romania's financial support mechanisms should theoretically reach around two million people, but in practice they have been assisting barely 800 000. Local authorities often lack the capacity, and sometimes the willingness, to identify vulnerable households and actively help them access benefits. Energy poverty is therefore not just about affordability. It is also about exclusion.
Your research highlights vulnerabilities that can be overlooked, including among tenants, single mothers and households that are not necessarily on the lowest incomes. Why do existing approaches to identifying and supporting people experiencing energy poverty sometimes miss these groups?
One fundamental problem is that governments operate in silos. Public databases rarely communicate, and eligibility for assistance is determined through an excessively narrow lens.
Ideally, we should integrate at least three datasets: household income, actual energy consumption and the energy performance of homes. Only by examining these together can we understand whether a household can afford the energy services required for a decent standard of living.
In Romania, however, support mechanisms largely rely on income alone. This misses households with modest but not extremely low incomes living in highly inefficient buildings, as well as tenants or single-parent families facing disproportionate energy costs.
We need to move beyond a simplistic income threshold towards a multidimensional understanding of vulnerability. Otherwise, many people experiencing genuine energy poverty will remain statistically invisible and excluded from support.
Poor housing conditions can make energy more expensive, while high energy costs can leave households with little money to improve their homes. How can policymakers break this cycle and ensure that energy-efficiency renovations benefit the people who need them most?
The first priority is better targeting of public investment. EU cohesion funding and affordable housing programmes should explicitly prioritise the most energy-vulnerable households and the worst-performing buildings.
Across several Member States, we have seen a troubling pattern: wealthier municipalities, with stronger administrative capacity and greater ability to cofinance projects, are often better positioned to access EU renovation funds. Yet these are not necessarily the places with the greatest needs.
We must reverse this logic. Funding allocation should reflect vulnerability and building performance, not merely the ability to prepare successful applications.
A second priority is addressing the landlord‑tenant dilemma. In countries with substantial rental markets, tenants often pay energy bills while landlords control renovation decisions. We need innovative financing and incentive mechanisms that align their interests, protect tenants against excessive rent increases and make deep renovation accessible regardless of property ownership.
As Europe moves towards a more climate-neutral energy system, how can the transition reduce energy poverty rather than deepen existing inequalities? What role can citizens and local communities play in shaping energy policies and benefiting from the transition?
First, we must defend ETS2 and the Social Climate Fund. The redistribution mechanisms associated with carbon pricing offer an important opportunity to finance energy-efficiency improvements, cleaner heating and more affordable mobility for vulnerable households.
Some Member States are pushing to weaken or abandon ETS2. But abandoning the system would also undermine the financing and policy architecture designed to make the transition socially fair. The answer is not to abandon carbon pricing but to ensure that its revenue is effectively redistributed and that vulnerable households receive meaningful support.
Second, citizens must become genuine participants in energy policymaking. While initiatives such as the EU Citizens' Energy Forum exist, meaningful engagement at national level remains disappointingly limited. Too often, citizens are consulted as an afterthought rather than treated as partners.
The upcoming revision of the Energy Union Governance Regulation should strengthen the partnership principle, ensuring that citizens, civil society and local communities have a real voice in shaping national energy and climate policies.
Based on your experience, what changes are most urgently needed at European, national and local level to ensure that everyone can access the energy they need for a decent standard of living? How can civil society contribute to these changes?
Three measures deserve particular attention, reflecting priorities we have advanced within the European Economic and Social Committee in relation to the Citizens Energy Package.
First, stronger protection against electricity and gas disconnections for vulnerable consumers. Access to essential energy services should not disappear simply because a household experiences temporary financial hardship.
Second, an effective, independent energy ombudsperson mechanism, providing consumers with accessible advice, mediation and redress when dealing with energy suppliers and other market actors.
Third, a dedicated European facility supporting energy communities, particularly those involving vulnerable citizens. Energy communities can democratise energy production and share its economic benefits, but without targeted technical and financial assistance they risk becoming another opportunity accessible mainly to affluent, well-organised households.
At national level, governments must identify vulnerability more effectively and coordinate social, housing and energy policies. Locally, authorities must proactively reach households that existing schemes overlook.
Civil society has a crucial role to play in identifying these blind spots, bringing evidence from affected communities into policymaking and holding institutions accountable.
Dr Corina Murafa is an independent public policy expert, activist and university lecturer specialising in climate, energy and sustainability. A member of the European Economic and Social Committee since 2023, she represents civil society organisations working on climate and energy. She is also a member of the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory (ORSE) and lectures at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. Her work focuses on the just energy transition, energy poverty and corporate ESG transformation. She has collaborated with different private and public organisations including the World Bank, the European Commission, the Environmental Defense Fund and Frankfurt School of Management, large multinationals, governments, NGOs and think tanks.