This is a systematic cross-country policy analysis of 67 energy hardship programmes from over 25 OECD countries. It was initially collated for Aotearoa New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Energy Hardship Expert Panel.
Together with the Phase 1 HTR Task National Experts Prof. Luis Mundaca from Lund University and Kira Ashby from the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, we took the coded programme database and synthesised the policy implications with a focus on these five areas: dominant policy rationales, main policy goals, supportive policy instruments, stakeholders, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
We found commonalities across significant design and implementation areas. Policy rationales often rely on two significant pillars: narratives related to energy poverty (and related concepts), and market barriers and failures related to energy efficiency or decentralised renewable energy systems. Policy goals encompass three distinct areas: finance, knowledge, and technology/infrastructure. Policy instruments supporting energy hardship programmes are still predominantly economic in nature. However, the review of programmes reveals a significant gap in robust estimates of cost-effectiveness or economic efficiency.