EPIU Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit - Expert

Project name EPIU Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit – Expert

Juny 2020 - Juny 2022

Total budget: Budget allocated to Ecoserveis: 48.750€

Web: https://www.uia-initiative.eu/en/uia-cities/getafe

Beneficiaries

CONSORCI EPIU

Description

Getafe wants to develop the ENERGY POVERTY INTELLIGENCE UNIT (EPIU) to identify, attend and fight Hidden Energy Poverty (HEP) with a pilot project in its two most vulnerable areas: Las Margaritas and La Alhóndiga. The innovation lies in the change in EP attention beyond monetary poverty: from reaction to prevention using data. EPIU is based on a data analytics system that collects information on energy consumption, income and other factors determining EP. The system will cluster EP vulnerable groups by their sociodemographic and physical characteristics for 3 scales: home, building, and neighborhood. A cross-disciplinary work team composed of several areas of the MUA and its housing company will be in charge of energy vulnerability cases detected by the tool and will value the implementation of tailor-made solutions and the compensatory engagement actions. Tailor-Made Solutions will be developed for both heat and cold energy poverty at the three scales for a selection of Energy Poverty affected homes, buildings and neighborhoods.

Role of Ecoserveis

Marta Garcia has been designed UIA expert fro EPIU project with three objectives: to provide advice to EPIU UIA project, to capture the knowledge generated locally by EPIU and to share the knowledge captured.

Objectives

Getafe’s main challenge is to identify and fight hidden energy poverty (HEP). People affected by energy poverty in Getafe could be between 15 and 30% although only 1991 families seek support from the City Council. Energy Poverty is usually defined by the % of rent that a household dedicates to energy consumption, but for EPIU energy poverty implies people unable to keep households in a comfortable temperature whether it is because they cannot pay for a sufficient amount of energy for its domestic needs and/or because it is forced to allocate an excessive part of its income. This situation is aggravated by the economic situation of Getafe, whose average income is 5.071 € lower than the rest of the Madrid Region. In addition, 52% of its current housing stock was built between the 60s and 80s with low quality and energy efficiency standards and without heating systems in most cases. The city has two urban deprived areas and neighbourhoods declared as critical areas for the rehabilitation and regeneration by Madrid’s regional government. These two areas have an increased incidence of Energy Poverty and are inhabited mainly by elderly and migrants.