Energy poverty risk: a spatial index based on energy efficiency

Luciano Lavecchia, Raffaele Miniaci (), Paola Valbonesi and Gowthami Venkateswaran ()
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Raffaele Miniaci: University of Brescia
Gowthami Venkateswaran: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

No 864, Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: We propose an Energy Poverty Risk Index (EPRI) and assess it at the local (municipal) level on Italian regional data. The EPRI includes four components: modelled expenditure required to satisfy household energy needs, severity of climate conditions, quality of the building stock and local 'wealth' (proxied by education and taxable income). The EPRI accounts for local differences in the many factors affecting energy poverty. Specifically, it is based on the idea that the higher the expenditure required to meet the energy needs and/or the severity of climate conditions, the higher the risk of energy poverty; on the contrary, wealthier areas and/or those with higher-quality buildings face a lower energy poverty risk. Our empirical analysis of the Lombardy region confirms these points and highlights a lower energy poverty risk in urban areas and higher energy poverty in rural and mountain municipalities. These results, with a municipal-level granularity, could be a first step towards a national energy poverty dashboard that can help design local actions to reduce the impacts of energy and climate factors on the most vulnerable.

Keywords: energy poverty; fuel poverty; energy efficiency; residential sector; Energy Performance Certificate (EPC); Italy; Composite Index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I32 Q48 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-07
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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