​Almost half of households suffer from energy poverty, meaning they cannot meet their energy needs for heating and lighting at the appropriate standards or suffer from high electricity bills, say representatives of the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory (ORSE). For 37.3% of households, energy costs exceed 10% of the daily consumer basket. Most of them come from rural areas.

Two out of ten households (19.8%) drastically reduced their energy consumption for heating, being in conditions of extreme energy poverty, according to ORSE data.

By comparison, in 2019, before the pandemic crisis and the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, the percentage of households experiencing energy poverty due to spending more than 10% of their energy costs was 27.4% of households. The situation worsened every year: in 2020, this percentage reached 33.3%, in 2021 – 36.5%, and in 2022 – 37.3%.

“The 10% figure highlights households that spend more than 10% of their spending on energy bills, pushing them into energy poverty. This is a more commonly used indicator that allows comparisons between countries. Approximately 75% of households in extreme energy poverty are from rural areas,” says Anka Sinea, vice president of the Association for the Study of Democracy and coordinator of ORSE.

Energy poverty is increasingly affecting the middle class as well.

“When the price of energy increases, people react according to their incomes and look for solutions. But what solutions? Many decide to close the radiator valve altogether. We do not know how energy poverty would have developed without the compensatory energy price ceiling mechanism, but it is clear that it could not stop the phenomenon.

The big problem is that more and more Romanians, who previously had no problem with their bills, find themselves in a state of energy poverty, and this affects the whole socio-economic spectrum. The general population is concerned about this phenomenon and should take it seriously. Financial measures such as the compensation ceiling mechanism and heating aids are important, but they do not have the desired effect. This means that cases are not handled properly. Despite the fact that we are trying to suppress this phenomenon from above, the causes of energy poverty persist and have consequences,” Sinea said.

What are the solutions?

Thus, the phenomenon of energy poverty cannot be eliminated without the intervention of measures on structural causes.

First, given the wide range of populations affected by energy poverty and with very diverse problems, intervention policies should be highly targeted to the affected categories.

There is a need for more focused policies on the rural environment and on the renewal and improvement of the efficiency of housing and housing equipment, as well as on programs aimed at diversifying energy sources and, in particular, at increasing renewable capacities.

Second, in the context of the multiple causes of energy poverty and given the complex impact of this phenomenon on society, financial measures such as heating assistance or capping compensation have proven to be limited and must be complemented by comprehensive and consistent policies targeting the structural causes of energy poverty .

ORSE experts emphasize the need to create a tripartite working group at the level of central state authorities, which will deal with this phenomenon comprehensively and with data. This group should include all relevant ministries (mandatory Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Development, Ministry of Investments and European Projects, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Public Finance, Ministry of Health), representatives local administrations; companies in the industry, consumer representatives; and civil society, who know the reality on the ground.

Third, dialogue with local communities is needed so that solutions are adapted to the specific needs of each settlement.

Single window tools have proven their potential, but they require the willingness of local and central authorities to work together to identify solutions (what we suggest citizens do), collect data (where we identify the biggest problems), etc., but also a great deal of openness on the part of individuals , who make decisions, to involve citizens in the decision-making process.