This winter, Irish households will be facing another round of rising energy costs. Even for people on decent incomes living in reasonably well-insulated homes, higher bills will add to the strain brought about by inflation and the cost of living. When the Dáil resumes next week, expect lots of indignant speeches about rising bills, the 300,000 households in arrears and the need for Government interventions to support vulnerable households and businesses.
Ireland is acutely vulnerable to price shocks and geopolitical tensions that drive up imported energy prices. Despite lofty rhetoric about climate action, well over 80 per cent of Ireland’s energy still comes from imported fossil fuels. The electricity grid, meanwhile, requires expensive upgrades to support renewables.
Successive governments have ploughed on with the crazy policy of facilitating data centres, whose share of electricity demand already tops 20 per cent of the total. We know the drivers of high energy costs – imported gas tops the list – but the most vulnerable and marginalised communities remain the most exposed to this crisis.
Behind the statistics are real people whose experiences and coping strategies are hidden and unspoken. For many people, energy poverty – like poverty in general – is a source of stress, anxiety and even stigma, all of which are as bad as living in a cold, damp and draughty home.
READ MORE
Energy poverty is not just about the cost of energy; it is not having the money to invest in energy upgrades, even when these upgrades would make a big difference to energy costs and thermal comfort. It is about being exposed to multiple forms of precarity in terms of work, childcare, rent, ill health – often exacerbated by poor housing – and rising living costs.
It is about the stress that comes with constantly juggling unpaid bills and meeting household expenses, which are especially high at the start of the school year. It is about not being able to afford a weekly shop. It is about the shame and stigma of having to ask for help from charities or relatives just to cover the basics, and of not being able to afford birthday presents or after-school activities.
Lack of local affordable accommodation, non-existent public transport services and low wages left her with few alternatives
Energy poverty can be caused by poor building energy performance, high energy costs or low incomes. Some households experience just enough of one of these triggers to be pushed into energy poverty, while some experience all three at once. Low and fixed incomes are a particular factor for lone parents, the majority of whom are women. They face barriers to joining the workforce or entering further education, while childcare is often unaffordable.
Being on a low income often means not being able to take advantage of cheaper tariffs that require direct debit payments. This is why many people prefer to rely on solid fuels in open fires or more expensive pay-as-you-go meters since these can be topped up when cash is available.
I remember hearing a story about a young woman who drove over 30km to work every day in a rural area. She did so in an uninsured vehicle because it was the only way she could afford to get there. Lack of local affordable accommodation, non-existent public transport services and low wages left her with few alternatives. Energy poverty has many faces and you likely pass them on the street all the time.
Bringing Ireland’s large cohort of inefficient and poorly insulated building stock up to a minimum B2 standard would make a huge difference to energy bills, comfort and indoor health. Most of the country’s poorest quality housing is concentrated in the rental sector, which drives up costs for people already struggling with high rents.
Phasing in minimum BER standards in the rental sector is an obvious start. Accommodation with an energy rating of E or below should not be allowed on to the rental market by 2026, says Friends of the Earth, nor should any tenant face eviction as a result of renovations.
Any holistic strategy to tackle energy poverty must address low incomes and high energy costs in tandem. The Government already knows who is most vulnerable. It is the people on low and fixed incomes such as social welfare payments, as well as people with disabilities, renters in poor-quality accommodation paying extortionate rents, and lone parents.
The Government could extend the fuel allowance eligibility, increase the funding for the Warmer Homes energy upgrade scheme and finance the retrofitting of all local authority housing by 2030. It could increase social welfare payments to cover, at a minimum, the rising cost of living, and make retrofitting grants easier to access with incremental works and interest-free loans. The real obstacle is not even money: it is the political will to overcome inertia and indifference.
