The lack of public policies addressing the intersection between disability and energy poverty is highlighted. There is a need for the participation of the collective in policy-making and intersectoral collaboration between public administration, organizations that work with people with disabilities, and citizens.
An under-recognised reality: the connection between disability and energy poverty
The ASSERT project, co-financed by the European cinea.ec.europa.eu/programmes/life_en" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="mj-entitat-link mj-entitat-link-1 mj-entitat-link--life-programme">LIFE programme, in which Ecoserveis participates, has carried out a qualitative exploration of the relationship between energy poverty and disability through interviews with key actors in the four countries where the ASSERT project is being implemented. In Spain, several relevant actors in the field of energy and disability were interviewed with the aim of studying the existence or absence of specific policies regarding the connection between disability and energy poverty. The people interviewed included professionals or representatives of organisations of people with disabilities, trade unions, public administrations and other entities at local, regional and national levels.
The expertise on disability and energy poverty helped to put on the table the current scenario in terms of policy-making, existing indicators, political participation of people with disabilities, good practices and future strategies that should be adopted to address energy poverty in households with disabilities.
Thanks to the 12 interviews conducted, the main conclusions are detailed below.
Overall, the study states that policies addressing the intersection between disability and energy poverty are scarce or even non-existent. Indeed, data collection to assess this relationship is fragmented and incomplete, in some cases informal, and there is a lack of specific policies for people with disabilities within the field of energy poverty.
Some legal frameworks offer indirect protections, such as Law 24/2015 in Catalonia or the social electricity voucher. Policies targeting vulnerable groups more broadly also often indirectly benefit people with disabilities. Regarding the support available for disability, many of the criteria used are income-based, which, in addition to limiting support, does not adequately reflect the real costs associated with disability.
Towards more inclusive policies
- The social voucher is recognized as a prominent element, as it has a higher income threshold when providing assistance to households with people with disabilities. However, it would be interesting to implement specific social energy tariffs for people with disabilities, offer free energy audits and access to support for energy rehabilitation.
- The public sector usually finances and administers energy poverty grants, while the third sector plays a key role in policy advocacy and service delivery. The involvement of the private sector is very limited. Therefore, strengthening intersectoral coordination, promoting participatory budgeting and decentralized decision-making (including people with disabilities, in accordance with Article 29 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) is key to addressing energy poverty in households with disabilities.
- In order to promote access to support and provide the necessary knowledge, it is important to create inclusive governance bodies and offer specialized training to staff working with people with disabilities. Similarly, there are significant geographical inequalities in existing services and infrastructure. A good practice, for example, is the Energy Advice Points (PAE) in Barcelona.
These interviews highlighted the lack of public policies that address the intersection between disability and energy poverty, while recognizing the need for community participation in policy development and intersectoral collaboration between public administration, organizations that work with people with disabilities, and citizens.
The few aids available are limited and vary depending on the territory, as well as existing good practices. However, the ASSERT project, thanks to the opportunity to open these dialogues, establishes a robust basis for promoting actions with great potential to transform local, regional, state and European policies.
