The race against energy poverty, an Olympic challenge
As the Olympic fever is still on, we prepared a sporty teaser for you: We think power needs to go to those who have the least, to those who are the “armless archers” in the energy world.
We powered up the Grafting Cities Conference!
What better place than sun-filled Valencia to talk about social renewable projects! What better group of people, than the hundreds of city-makers that gathered in Valencia for the conference to talk about the POWER UP pilots?
Valencia, a ‘fair transition’ living lab
Valencia is Green Capital in 2024, a title which recognises the longstanding pioneer in sustainability. The city council does aim for a transformation that meets environmental criteria as much as social ones. Its outstanding support to energy communities and the special focus on the weakest residents, suffering from energy poverty, ill-health or other social disadvantageous, make Valencia a “fair transition” living lab. The experiences gathered in the city, both in winter and in summer, are shared with other local authorities within the Sun4 All Community of Practice.
Flashback on an insightful conference about inclusive and empowering solutions
Last week, POWER UP coordinator Eduardo Blanco spoke at the EnergyMeasures Conference “Illuminating Perspectives: Panel Discussion on Tackling Energy Poverty” taking place in Brussels. Sitting side by side with other energy poverty specialists, Eduardo shared the business model diversity explored and developed by the five pilots.
Who benefits? – Evaluating impact on vulnerable tenants
Testing energy efficiency support schemes just for fun wouldn’t make sense. What effect do they have? What methods and data work best to understand their impact? Last October, Manon Burbidge from the University of Manchester (UK) shared some science-backed insights around these questions with the POWER UP partners.
Energy for the invisible citizen: take-ways from a workshop on energy poverty and energy justice
The POWER UP and Cooltorise teams had the pleasure to see many energy poverty advocates in Modena during the 2.5-hour workshop “Energy for the invisible citizen: in search for lasting renewable & fair solutions.” We discussed energy poverty and ways to fight it by working with those most affected.
Latest EU guidance on energy poverty recognising importance of POWER UP
The POWER UP approach to co-design those services with people in energy poverty must have impressed the EU Commission. In the latest guidance on energy poverty they mention our work in general, and our pilot city Eeklo in particular,
Eeklo’s social cooperative shares scheme recognised by European Social Innovation award
Eeklo is one of the 15 finalists of the European Social Innovation Competition who have been selected for their outstanding energy poverty program. This scheme, which has been developed and launched in the framework of the POWER UP project, will enable low-income households to become members of an energy cooperative.
Coping with energy poverty during summer
Energy poverty has traditionally been defined by wintertime heating, but it is just as important during the summer months, and the devastating summer heat in 2023 proves this. About 19 % of households in the EU reported being too hot during the summer, and this share is constantly increasing in last decades. In this context, the EU-funded COOLTORISE project aims to establish a framework on summer energy poverty to define common solutions.
Our contribution to Redistributing Power: How can Renewable Energy Communities relieve energy poverty
This report concludes that energy communities are one of several tools in the fight against energy poverty. They can do a lot, but they should not be seen as a silver bullet – especially without the right eneabling frameworks and incentives or be tied to unreasonable expectations.
