Background
Energy poverty is a situation where a household cannot access energy services in the home up to a socially and materially necessary level. In Norway, a high-income country with historically low electricity prices, energy poverty has barely been on the political agenda. However, many Norwegian households are increasingly at risk of living with energy poverty due to higher electricity prices, as experienced in the winters of 2021 and 2022. There is little research on this in the Norwegian context, but the few studies available indicate that it is an existing problem in Norway as well.
There is a need to understand the causes of why different households end up in energy poverty, how it is experienced, and how it is managed, both in urban and rural areas. In addition, the effect of existing policies and measures relevant to energy poverty must be assessed. This is important to inform discussions about what kind of policies and measures are relevant and can be implemented to reduce energy poverty in different contexts in Norway.
About the project
This doctoral project aims to understand the central causes of and experiences with energy poverty, and how it is managed in various Norwegian households. The project will also study the effect of current and alternative policies to reduce the problem.
This will be done through interviews and observations in energy-poor households in both urban and rural areas in the Eastern region of Norway. The sample will consist of households in different situations based on socio-economic and demographic factors, such as gender, ethnicity, income, household size, and tenancy agreement. Document studies of policy documents and official reports relevant to energy poverty, as well as interviews with decision-makers, bureaucrats, and other stakeholders, will also be conducted.
Based on findings about households' lived experiences and current energy-relevant policies, this policy will be evaluated. In addition, document studies of previous European research on energy poverty and policies will help investigate whether there are innovative policy examples that may be better suited to combat energy poverty than current policies in Norway.
The doctoral project is led by Karianne Krohn Taranger at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute. It is part of the research project PowerPoor and is affiliated with the research center Include.
Duration
2023 – 2026