Energy poverty, not just financial compensation - Housing support, Sauku: Investments that reduce costs and increase quality of life
Thermal insulation of homes, replacement of doors and windows, energy-efficient equipment or more efficient heating systems. These are some of the interventions that aim to support families in conditions of energy poverty, following the approval of the National Action Plan for the period 2026–2030. According to experts, the document approved for the first time by the government, aims for support not to be limited only to financial compensation for energy bills, but also to extend to investments that reduce consumption and costs of families in the long term.
"The first is support not only monetary, but also by identifying the conditions in which they live. The law itself provides support for thermal insulation of houses, for changing doors and windows if they are not in optimal conditions, it goes as far as energy-efficient equipment, so if the heating systems are old, the law itself says that if houses are heated with very old wood stoves, then investments in efficient heating systems are foreseen for these families. So, these are very good measures and which are also in line with the energy efficiency law", - says Arion Sauku, from the Milieukontakt organization.
Energy poverty is not necessarily linked only to low income levels, therefore the adoption of the Action Plan will also bring an expansion of beneficiaries, which until now were mainly limited to beneficiaries of economic assistance.
"Energy poverty does not just mean being poor. It means that families are unable to create optimal conditions for heating and cooling their homes. If electricity bills exceed 20-30% of income and then a family is unable to afford basic food, education, or healthcare, this family will be categorized as a family in energy poverty," says Sauku.
Identifying these families is one of the key links in implementing the plan, while finding funding remains a challenge to ensure successful implementation.
"The first thing should start with identification on the ground, they can also be identified by health centers, because most of these families have access to local health centers. There can be the first filter and then they can be oriented to the municipalities which, through programs, orient these families on how they can apply and how they can be supported with funds. These are at the local level and at the central level there is definitely coordination, making it possible to finance these families and updating year after year the families that fall into energy poverty conditions", - says the expert.
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