Strategies Used by Rural Indigenous Populations to Cope with Energy Poverty, in San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Susana Carolina Guzmán-Rosas ()
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Susana Carolina Guzmán-Rosas: Tecnológico Nacional de Mexico, Instituto Tecnológico de San Luis Potosí (TecNM-ITSLP), San Luis Potosí 78436, Mexico

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-23

Abstract: At the global level, the strategies used by rural Indigenous populations to face energy poverty have not been studied. Pioneering in the field, this work contributes to filling the gaps in the literature on the subject, mobilize the debate on a problem that affects rural Indigenous populations unequally, and outline key areas for policy. With a quantitative approach and taking as a research scenario the five rural Indigenous municipalities with the highest multidimensional poverty in the State of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, this paper analyzes the strategies used by rural Indigenous households to cope with energy poverty. It finds that a considerable proportion has had difficulty paying for their energy consumption (electricity, LP gas, and firewood), using strategies to cope with energy poverty (67.7%, 73.2%, and 96.1%, respectively): reducing expenses or stopping buying other things, borrowing money, and/or failing to pay for electricity or buy fuels for lack of economic resources. Food is significantly sacrificed in the reduction of expenses or stopping buying things, followed by health and housing. The situation has normalized over time, potentially impacting development, physical health, and mental well-being, and acting as an accelerator of the cycle of risk of energy poverty, given the confirmation of additional stressors.

Keywords: indigenous energy poverty; coping with energy poverty; income; expense reduction; firewood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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