What is Energy Poverty

Part 1: Energy Poverty – Key Characteristics 

Think

Imagine that you had limited access to affordable and reliable energy. What are the most basic things in your home you would have to live without?  

Write

In your notebook, in just a few words, jot down: 

• What your life and the life of your family would be like living without AC and/or home heating? 
• Living in your home without access to clean running water.
• Living without access to consistent food refrigeration.
• Cooking without a stove or oven.

Energy Poverty Defined

Energy poverty is the lack of access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy services, encompassing inadequate heating, cooling, lighting, and electricity to power essential appliances. It affects households unable to afford energy costs, such as those spending a disproportionately large share of their income on utilities. The issue leads to negative impacts on health and wellbeing, hindering economic development and education by forcing people to use dirtier, less safe energy sources like biomass, which cause indoor air pollution and shorten productive workdays.  

Energy poverty is the lack of access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy services, encompassing inadequate heating, cooling, lighting, and electricity to power essential appliances. It affects households unable to afford energy costs, such as those spending a disproportionately large share of their income on utilities. The issue leads to negative impacts on health and wellbeing, hindering economic development and education by forcing people to use dirtier, less safe energy sources like biomass, which cause indoor air pollution and shorten productive workdays.

• Jobs are lost or shipped out to nations that can supply energy more inexpensively to its industrial base 
• Industrial production diminishes 
• Transportation of goods to and from factories diminishes (because fewer things are made in that nation) 
• Jobs are lost or shipped out to nations that can supply energy more inexpensively to its industrial base 
• Industrial production drops and is taken by nations that can supply power more inexpensively to industry 
• Every part of the U.S. economy—from factories to food prices—depends on cheap energy. 
• Countries with affordable, reliable energy have competitive manufacturing and strong exports. 
• The U.S. economy thrives when energy prices are stable and low—fueling innovation and jobs. 

Key Characteristics

• Lack of Access: Inability to access essential modern energy services.  
• Affordability: Inability to afford these services, leading to high energy expenditures.  
• Reliability & Sustainability: Reliance on unreliable or unsustainable energy sources, such as biomass fuels, for cooking, heating, and lighting.  

Consequences of Energy Poverty 

• Lack of Access: Inability to access essential modern energy services.  
• Affordability: Inability to afford these services, leading to high energy expenditures.  
• Reliability & Sustainability: Reliance on unreliable or unsustainable energy sources, such as biomass fuels, for cooking, heating, and lighting.  

Root Cause

• High Energy Prices: Increased costs for energy services.  
• Low Income: Households struggling to pay high energy bills.  
• Inefficient Buildings & Appliances: Poorly insulated homes and inefficient appliances increase energy demand.  
• Lack of Infrastructure: In some regions, insufficient power grids prevent access to electricity. 

Part 2: Poverty is Energy Poverty

Pre-view Questions – Use these questions to activate your curiosity and gauge your baseline understanding

Post-Viewing Questions – Use these questions to assess your understanding of the video’s key points and  to help reinforce your understanding of the main messages.