Faces of Poverty: Who Are the Energy Poor in Poland?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15678/ZP.2021.57.3.03

Keywords:

energy poverty, profiles, hidden energy poverty, energy poverty ratio, subjective indicator, Poland

Abstract

Objective: The author’s goal is to portray energy poor households in Poland based on several well-recognised and original indicators and some clustering techniques. In this study, I check whether the target population is identified correctly and I show possible directions in which the state energy poverty policy might evolve in this regard.

Research Design & Methods: The ten-percent energy poverty measure, the ability-to-keep-home-warm, and the hidden-energy-poverty measures are used to examine the profiles of the energy poor. My source of data is the energy consumption module of the Household Budget Survey collected by the Polish statistical office in 2018. The statistical techniques include multiple linear regression, lasso regression, partitioning around medoids procedure, and hierarchical clustering, among other things.

Findings: All indicators produce different rates of energy poverty, but they are consistent in describing the energy poor groups. Two similar clusters are obtained. The first group is composed mostly of retired single women occupying blocks of flats. The second group is represented mainly by working men living in families with children in stand-alone houses in remote areas.

Implications / Recommendations: Although politicians might choose an energy poverty measure which gives the convenient level of energy poverty incidence, the profile of the target population does not change much. The above implies that regardless of the approach to estimating energy poverty, the profiles obtained in this study should be considered as a target population for policy actions.

Contribution / Value Added: Energy poverty in Poland is often linked to low-stack emissions coming from the residential sector. The owners of single-family houses are the main target of many state programmes aimed at improving the air quality in the country as well as fighting energy poverty. In this study, I show that there are at least two target groups. The results are robust with regard to energy-poverty measuring.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Belaïd, F. (2018). Exposure and risk to fuel poverty in France: Examining the extent of the fuel precariousness and its salient determinants. Energy Policy, 114, 189–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.12.005

Betto, F., Garengo, P., & Lorenzoni, A. (2020). A new measure of Italian hidden energy poverty. Energy Policy, 138, 111237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.111237

Boardman, B. (1991). Fuel Poverty: From Cold Homes to Affordable Warmth. Belhaven Press.

Bouzarovski, S., & Tirado-Herrero, S. (2017). The energy divide: Integrating energy transitions, regional inequalities and poverty trends in the European Union. European Urban and Regional Studies, 24(1), 69–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969776415596449

Brunner, K.-M., Spitzer, M., & Christanell, A. (2012). Experiencing fuel poverty. Coping strategies of low-income households in Vienna/Austria. Energy Policy, 49, 53–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.en-pol.2011.11.076

Chaton, C., & Lacroix, E. (2018). Does France have a fuel poverty trap? Energy Policy, 113, 258–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.10.052

Deller, D. (2018). Energy affordability in the EU: The risks of metric driven policies. Energy Policy, 119, 168–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.03.033

EU Commission Recommendation 2020/1563 on energy poverty. C/2020/9600. OJ L 357: 35–41.

EU Energy Poverty O bservatory (EPOV) (2021a). What is energy poverty? https://www.energypoverty.eu/about/what-energy-poverty

EU Energy Poverty Observatory (EPOV) (2021b). Indicators & Data. https://www.energypoverty.eu/indicators-data

EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (2021). Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/european-union-statistics-on-income-and-living-conditions (accessed: 10.10.2021).

Fizaine, F., & Kahouli, S. (2018). On the power of indicators: How the choice of the fuel poverty measure affects the identification of the target population. FAERE Policy Papers, 2018–01. https://doi.org/10.108000036846.2018.1524975

Hills, J. (2012). Getting the Measure of Fuel Poverty: Final Report of the Fuel Poverty Review. Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion.

Karpinska, L. (2018). Direct energy poverty metrics: What are the rates for Poland? Folia Oeconomica Cracoviensia, 59, 3–22.

Karpinska, L., & Śmiech, S. (2020a). Conceptualising housing costs: The hidden face of energy poverty in Poland.

Energy Policy, 111819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111819

Karpinska, L., & Śmiech, S. (2020b). Invisible energy poverty? Analysing housing costs in Central and Eastern Europe. Energy Research & Social Science, 70, 101670. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101670

Karpinska, L., & Śmiech, S. (2020c). On the persistence of energy poverty in Europe: How hard is it for the poor to escape? Energy RESEARCH LETTERS, 1(3), 14158. https://doi.org/10.46557/001c.14158

Karpinska, L., & Śmiech, S. (2021a). Breaking the cycle of energy poverty. Will Poland make it? Energy Economics, 94, 105063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.105063

Karpinska, L., & Śmiech, S. (2021b). Raport: Energetyczna bieda. Raport o gospodarstwach domowych ubogich energetycznie. Available at: https://politykipubliczne.pl/raport-energetyczna-bieda--raport-o-gospodarstwach-domowych-ubogich-energetycznie/ (accessed: 05.10.2021).

Lis, M., Sałach, K., & Święcicka, K. (2016). Heterogeneity of the fuel poor in Poland – quantification and policy implications. IBS Working Paper, 08/2016.

Meyer, S., Laurence, H., Bart, D., Lucie, M., & Kevin, M. (2018). Capturing the multifaceted nature of energy poverty: Lessons from Belgium. Energy Research & Social Science, 40, 273–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.01.017

Miazga, A., & Owczarek, D. (2015). It’s cold inside – energy poverty in Poland. IBS Working Paper, 16/2015.

Middlemiss, L. (2017). A critical analysis of the new politics of fuel poverty in England. Critical Social Policy, 37(3), 425–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018316674851

Moore, R. (2011). The Hills Fuel Poverty Review Proposal for a New Definition of Fuel Poverty: An Analysis. Consumer Focus.

Naimski, P. (2021). Ubóstwo energetyczne: PiS pracuje nad rozwiązaniami dla gospodarstw domowych. Gazeta Prawna, https://serwisy.gazetaprawna.pl/energetyka/artykuly/8117103,naimski-projekt-pomocy-ubostwo-energetyczne.html (accessed: 15.11.2021).

Papada, L., & Kaliampakos, D. (2020). Being forced to skimp on energy needs: A new look at energy poverty in Greece. Energy Research & Social Science, 64, 101450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101450

Primc, K., Slabe-Erker, R., & Majcen, B. (2019). Constructing energy poverty profiles for an effective energy policy. Energy Policy, 128, 727–734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.01.059

Rademaekers, K., Yearwood, J., Ferreira, A., Pye, S., Hamilton, I., Agnolucci, P., Grover, D., Karasek, J., & Anisimova, N. (2016). Selecting indicators to measure energy poverty. Final Report. European Commission.

Sanchez-Guevara, C., Sanz Fernandez, A., Núñez Peiró, M., Gomez Munoz, G. (2020). Energy poverty in Madrid: Data exploitation at the city and district level. Energy Policy, 144, 111653. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111653

Sareen, S., Thomson, H., Herrero, S. T., Gouveia, J. P., Lippert, I., & Lis, A. (2020). European energy poverty metrics: Scales, prospects and limits. Global Transitions, 2, 26–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.glt.2020.01.003

Schuessler, R. (2014). Energy poverty indicators: Conceptual issues. Part I: The ten-percent-rule and double median/ mean indicators. Discussion Paper, 14–037. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2459404

Thomson, H. & Snell, C. (2013). Quantifying the prevalence of fuel poverty across the European Union. Energy Policy, 52, 563–572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.009

Tibshirani, R. (1996). Regression shrinkage and selection via the lasso. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series B (Methodological), 58(1), 267–288.

UK Government (2021). Fuel Poverty Methodology Handbook. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fuel-poverty-statistics-methodology-handbook (accessed: 13.11.2021).

Downloads

Published

2021-12-28 — Updated on 2024-05-21

Versions

How to Cite

Karpinska, L. (2024). Faces of Poverty: Who Are the Energy Poor in Poland?. Journal of Public Governance, 57(3), 23-39. https://doi.org/10.15678/ZP.2021.57.3.03 (Original work published 2021)