Impacts of energy prices on fuel poverty and its implications for the Just Transition

The recent price hike in energy prices will impose an additional burden on vulnerable households, particularly on those who are already unable to afford an adequate level of energy services. This project provides guidance and support for implementing social and retrofit policies to address energy poverty by improving its measurement and targeting. The project will examine novel aspects of energy poverty incidence, such as how households must curb other aspects of consumption when facing higher energy prices. Measures will be developed to target those in energy poverty better. The project will employ theoretical and empirical tools for behavioural micro-simulation and poverty measurement. The project will also involve primary data collection to investigate householder’s willingness to invest in energy efficiency and how this is influenced by interventions such as grants and information provision.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) will fund the project under the National Energy Research, Development & Demonstration (RD&D) Programme. This project complements the research agenda set in the ESRI's Research Programme on Energy Poverty (RPEP).