With Ute Dubois and Philipp Biermann.

Routledge, ISBN 9780367430528, September 30, 2020

This book explores the issue of energy poverty in post-communist Europe and shows how it is viewed and addressed through public policies.

Energy poverty is severely affecting many parts of the European Union, but up until now only a few comparative analyses have been developed to understand the phenomenon and its diversity throughout the region. Filling this gap, this volume focusses specifically on the Eastern European Region, drawing on contributions that cover a wide range of countries including Germany, Poland, Romania and Hungary. This region has undergone significant transitions over the past three decades, but as the contributions demonstrate, it still faces major challenges to providing clean and affordable energy to its citizens and renovating existing housing stock. The chapters explore the extent of energy poverty in each country and examine the drivers, whilst casting a light on how policymakers tackle the issue through a critical examination of the instruments implemented to help the energy poor.

This book will be of great interest to researchers in the fields of energy policy and comparative politics, to policymakers in post-communist countries and EU institutions, and also to other relevant actors, such as companies and NGOs who focus on issues of energy poverty.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Stefan Bouzarovski

1. Introduction: Energy Poverty and its Drivers in Post-Communist Europe: The Visible, the Measurable and the Hidden

Ute Dubois

Part 1: Energy Poverty and Politics

2. Energy Poverty in Hungary: Trapped in Politics

Anna Zsófia Bajomi, Nóra Feldmár, and Lea Kőszeghy

3. Inconsistencies in Policy-Making as Drivers of Energy Poverty in Bulgaria

Maria Jeliazkova, Veneta Krasteva, and Douhomir Minev

4. The Role of NGOs in the Emergence of Energy Poverty as a Policy Issue in Slovenia

Lidija Živčič and Tomislav Tkalec

Part 2: Energy Poverty, Energy, and Poverty

5. Energy Poverty in a Subsistence-Like Economy: The Case of North Macedonia

Ana Stojilovska

6. Energy Poverty as Heating Poverty in Lithuania

Lina Murauskaite

7. Energy Poverty Between Energy Paradigms in Poland

Jakub Sokołowski, Damian Zelewski, Joanna Stępień, and Piotr Lewandowski

8. On How to Fix a Sturdy Energy Poverty System in Romania

Anca Sinea

Part 3: Regional Variations of Energy Poverty

9. Hidden Energy Poverty: The Case of the Czech Republic

Hedvika Koďousková and Lukáš Lehotský

10. Energy Poverty in East and West Germany: Divided We (Still) Stand?

Philipp Biermann

11. Regional Disparities as Roots of Energy Poverty in Slovakia

Dusana Dokupilova and Richard Filcak

12. Conclusions: Energy Poverty as a Threat to Democracy in Post-Communist Countries

George Jiglau