tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/energy-poverty-3844/articles Energy poverty – The Conversation2017-09-10T19:39:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/829752017-09-10T19:39:29Z2017-09-10T19:39:29ZWhat about the people missing out on renewables? Here’s what planners can do about energy justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184462/original/file-20170904-8529-hdlc69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Solar panels are integrated into a block of flats in the Viikki area of Helsinki, Finland.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_panels_integrated_in_a_block_of_flats_in_Viikki_Helsinki_Finland.jpg">Pöllö/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The rapid shift to new energy sources is <a href="https://theconversation.com/pace-of-renewable-energy-shift-leaves-city-planners-struggling-to-keep-up-82206">outpacing land use planning</a> in cities. As interest in renewable energy burgeons, another concern has emerged – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2015.10.004">energy justice</a>.</p>
<p>Improvements in renewable energy generation, energy efficiency and storage technology benefit more advantaged populations like homeowners. These innovations are generally beyond the reach of more disadvantaged groups like renters, pensioners, students and the working poor. Researchers see this as an emerging <a href="http://www.analyse-und-kritik.net/2014-2/AK_Byrne_Portanger_2014.pdf">energy justice concern</a>.</p>
<h2>Energy costs hit the poor harder</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184840/original/file-20170906-9867-iswi6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184840/original/file-20170906-9867-iswi6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184840/original/file-20170906-9867-iswi6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184840/original/file-20170906-9867-iswi6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184840/original/file-20170906-9867-iswi6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184840/original/file-20170906-9867-iswi6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184840/original/file-20170906-9867-iswi6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184840/original/file-20170906-9867-iswi6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rising power bills hit lower-income households particularly hard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mother-holding-baby-take-look-on-328104266">shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>A <a href="http://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Consultation-Paper-Empowering-Vulnerable-Households-and-Decarbonisation.pdf">recent report</a>, prepared by the Australian Council of Social Service, The Climate Institute and the Brotherhood of St Laurence, highlighted the disproportionate impacts of energy poverty. Current policy settings and energy price rises <a href="https://www.facebook.com/VCOSS/videos/1598547540177078/">make life even more difficult</a> for people who are already struggling to pay their power bills.</p>
<p>Energy price rises can affect residents’ ability to <a href="https://theconversation.com/out-in-the-heat-why-poorer-suburbs-are-more-at-risk-in-warming-cities-66213">cool</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-heatwaves-our-cold-houses-are-much-more-likely-to-kill-us-83030">heat</a> their homes, cook food and get hot water. Ultimately, this can have <a href="https://theconversation.com/housing-stress-and-energy-poverty-a-deadly-mix-9484">dire consequences</a> for <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-heatwaves-our-cold-houses-are-much-more-likely-to-kill-us-83030">people’s health</a> and wellbeing.</p>
<p>Attention has been drawn to the inability of such households to tap into renewable energy in <a href="https://theconversation.com/wa-bathes-in-sunshine-but-the-poorest-households-lack-solar-panels-that-needs-to-change-82983">Western Australia</a> and the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-22/why-hasnt-darwin-embraced-solar-power-to-help-reduce-power-bills/8824690">Northern Territory</a>. Less well known are the emerging opportunities to reduce energy poverty. These include solar leasing, energy co-operatives and landlord incentives.</p>
<h2>Solar leasing</h2>
<p>Solar leasing is a strategy where a homeowner signs an agreement with a company to install solar panels. Up-front costs are limited and the system is paid back incrementally over its lifespan. In theory, this could enable landlords and low-income owners to gain access to cheaper solar energy.</p>
<p>There are many variations on such leases. One involves the owner buying power back from the leasing company, which sells surplus power to the grid. Another is where the owner obtains a low-cost loan, such as those offered by the <a href="https://www.fanniemae.com/content/guide/selling/b5/3.3/01.html">Fannie Mae</a> foundation in the US.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-harney-20150322-story.html">Some caution</a> is warranted before entering such agreements, not least because leases can make homes harder to sell.</p>
<p>The relative <a href="https://theconversation.com/2017-will-be-a-big-year-for-australias-energy-system-heres-what-to-look-out-for-71703">vacuum of Commonwealth energy policy</a> in Australia is prompting some local governments to step in. The City of Darebin in Melbourne is an example. Its <a href="http://www.darebin.vic.gov.au/Darebin-Living/Caring-for-the-environment/EnergyClimate">Solar Saver Program</a> aims to help pensioners and other low-income earners get solar panels on rooftops. The panels are installed up-front and paid back through rates.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184422/original/file-20170903-27231-10orp8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184422/original/file-20170903-27231-10orp8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184422/original/file-20170903-27231-10orp8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184422/original/file-20170903-27231-10orp8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184422/original/file-20170903-27231-10orp8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184422/original/file-20170903-27231-10orp8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184422/original/file-20170903-27231-10orp8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184422/original/file-20170903-27231-10orp8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some councils are helping pensioners and other low-income earners to install solar panels to cut their energy bills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/9647603520">Michael Coghlan</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Community renewable energy co-operatives</h2>
<p>A second idea is to increase competition in the energy market by enabling communities to generate their own energy. <a href="https://theconversation.com/communities-are-taking-renewable-power-into-their-own-hands-42480">Community renewable energy</a> projects are an example. </p>
<p>But such projects need not be market-based. A recent innovation in New South Wales has been the development of an energy co-operative in <a href="https://theconversation.com/get-in-on-the-ground-floor-how-apartments-can-join-the-solar-boom-79172">Stucco apartments</a>, a non-profit, student housing complex. This small-scale co-operative generates solar energy and stores it in batteries, selling it to tenants in the building, who are low-income students.</p>
<p>Larger versions exist in Germany. There <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-10/german-village-first-to-become-energy-self-sufficient/5879360">whole villages</a> have become energy co-operatives of sorts, achieving energy self-sufficiency.</p>
<h2>Landlord incentives</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184659/original/file-20170905-28027-1ukl61k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184659/original/file-20170905-28027-1ukl61k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184659/original/file-20170905-28027-1ukl61k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184659/original/file-20170905-28027-1ukl61k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184659/original/file-20170905-28027-1ukl61k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184659/original/file-20170905-28027-1ukl61k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184659/original/file-20170905-28027-1ukl61k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184659/original/file-20170905-28027-1ukl61k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A landlord who makes improvements such as double glazing should be able to claim these as a tax deduction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pflintandco/6684902701/in/photolist-bbHSF8-jBLQvD-eR5wP5-oa1L4C-j8ZVVt-3sZAbY-nxLsSc-cud5B3-6jtyBF-7vLVuk-9QS7bh-UNGN9o-74HL4J-sxsZU-5BKWa3-jte4G-BUoEL6-5S3h17-dHDAAg-34Ydj3-pQj1uU-bnqYLZ-5qcYy7-aHYKCM-dCFLPL-8RTsme-jex6jj-qJvU2t-ff4iQa-JmxQM-794NQ4-aAd6GA-oExAUu-9Yv8tp-q3Dh3Y-2BTsT-92LQSg-4kkCVv-jV6NuW-6BJm2B-ayr14U-yzW4B-6xhy5R-8Bfv2s-f8BCZP-6BN7PC-6xhuF2-azKw6B-dD9a6v-6xhvPX">Paul Flint/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Several <a href="https://theconversation.com/renters-are-being-left-out-in-the-cold-on-energy-savings-heres-a-solution-65712">commentators</a> have identified the need for better incentives and penalties to encourage landlords to retrofit properties to make them more energy-efficient. </p>
<p>This includes changing the tax system. If rental properties are upgraded – with insulation, more efficient hot water systems, energy-efficient stoves or windows – these costs should count as legitimate tax deductions. Currently, these improvements are not treated as repairs and instead are depreciated over time. </p>
<p>Similarly, new minimum standards for energy efficiency in rental properties are needed. The NSW <a href="https://www.basix.nsw.gov.au/iframe/about-basix.html">BASIX system</a> is a step in this direction.</p>
<h2>The energy justice challenge for planners</h2>
<p>Land use planning systems are typically future-oriented. But most of the buildings that will exist in the middle of this century are already built. </p>
<p>We need to update planning systems to better manage systemic changes in existing built environments. These changes include the transition to renewable energy and associated energy justice concerns.</p>
<p>There are possibilities for improvement. For example, planners can learn from early innovations like the Stucco model. Working proactively with community energy co-operatives could reduce uncertainty for all stakeholders, minimise time wasted and maximise returns for participants.</p>
<p>Planners can also develop new policies and processes – such as model town planning schemes – to work with communities in delivering other small-scale renewable energy projects such as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-30/community-energy-projects-selling-out-within-minutes/8476794">community solar farms</a> and <a href="https://energy.gov/articles/how-microgrids-work">microgrids</a>. Another possibility is to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-17/millions-of-residents-locked-out-of-solar-benefit-to-power-bills/8813664">alter strata title</a> laws to make it easier to install solar in apartment buildings.</p>
<p>Modern land use planning was driven in large part by a desire to <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/origins-modern-town-planning">improve public health and social justice</a> by regulating development. Today’s planners should regard efforts to improve energy justice as a new but entirely appropriate professional responsibility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82975/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Byrne receives funding from the Australian Research Council for two research projects on: (i) climate change and social innovation and (ii) green space and health. He is a member of the Planning Institute Australia and Institute of Australian Geographers. He is affiliated with the Gold Coast and Hinterland Environment Council and donates to environmental groups (e.g. Australian Conservation Foundation). He has solar panels on his roof.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Matthews is a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Planning Institute of Australia. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Griffith University for research which examines the nexus between urban planning and climate adaptation. </span></em></p>Not everyone can afford to pay for solar panels up front, but local planners can help disadvantaged households overcome energy poverty in several ways.Jason Byrne, Associate Professor of Environmental Planning, Griffith UniversityTony Matthews, Lecturer in Urban and Environmental Planning, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/830302017-08-30T04:22:44Z2017-08-30T04:22:44ZForget heatwaves, our cold houses are much more likely to kill us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183547/original/file-20170828-27540-ziqr2l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Soaring heating costs mean many vulnerable Australians endure cold houses and the associated risks to their health.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/senior-woman-adjusting-her-thermostat-88666006?src=CtveLNqByT5BE5DYQp5ulg-1-0">Paul Vasarhelyi from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A pervasive myth in Australia is that hot weather is the greatest danger to our health. In reality, it’s more likely cold weather will kill you. </p>
<p>For all our concern about the dangers of heatwaves, simple analysis of mortality data suggests the cold months present a much greater health risk. </p>
<p>Almost 7% of deaths in Australia from 1988 to 2009 were attributable to cold weather, according to an <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)62114-0/fulltext">international study</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/cold-weather-is-a-bigger-killer-than-extreme-heat-heres-why-42252">reported in The Conversation</a>. Less than 1% of deaths were attributable to heat. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/cold-weather-is-a-bigger-killer-than-extreme-heat-heres-why-42252">Cold weather is a bigger killer than extreme heat – here’s why</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Relating simple monthly mortality rates with temperature data for South Australia, we also see a clear and significant relationship between excess deaths and monthly mean temperature. The compelling graph below suggests that, rather than focusing our attention on heatwaves in summer, we should be far more worried about keeping people warm in winter. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183381/original/file-20170824-28115-1nskw6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183381/original/file-20170824-28115-1nskw6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183381/original/file-20170824-28115-1nskw6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183381/original/file-20170824-28115-1nskw6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183381/original/file-20170824-28115-1nskw6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183381/original/file-20170824-28115-1nskw6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183381/original/file-20170824-28115-1nskw6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183381/original/file-20170824-28115-1nskw6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Australia may well be a sunburnt country, but even though most us live in parts of the nation with a mild climate, an increasing pool of empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests our houses are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10901-008-9105-1">some of the coldest in the world</a>. </p>
<p>While clearly not the only contributing factor to high wintertime mortality and ill-health, housing is an important place to start. After all, Australians spend <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/topics/environment-protection/air-quality/indoor-air">up to 90% of their lives indoors</a>.</p>
<h2>Why do Australians suffer cold houses?</h2>
<p>We suggest several explanations for Australia’s “cold house” phenomenon: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Australian houses are mainly designed to keep us cool in summer rather than warm in winter, so are often hard (or costly) to heat. Thus the quality of housing that people are able to access is critical in shaping their exposure to or protection from cold conditions.</p></li>
<li><p>The dominant heat narrative running through public health awareness campaigns and an overwhelming research focus on keeping houses cool continually reinforce the collective perception of Australia as a summer country. Keeping warm in winter has become an afterthought, an exercise in resilience. However, many Australian climates have more heating degree days than cooling degree days, so it takes more energy to make our houses comfortable in winter than in summer. </p></li>
<li><p>Australian housing is built to relatively poor minimum thermal performance standards. These provisions, once considered progressive, have not been significantly enhanced for the past decade. One <a href="http://lowcarbonlivingcrc.com.au/sites/all/files/publications_file_attachments/best_practice_policy_and_regulation_14_march_2017_crclcl.pdf">report suggests</a> the standards are unlikely to be meaningfully revised until 2022 at the earliest. And once housing is built, there are no mandatory compliance checks for quality, insulation or warmth in either the owner-occupier or rental sectors. </p></li>
<li><p>Fuel poverty is adding to the cost-of-living pressures on Australian households. For some, the cost of adequately heating draughty and poorly insulated homes is too high. A <a href="http://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ACOSS_BSL_TCI_Empowering-households.pdf">recent report</a> suggests the number of Australians experiencing energy poverty is likely to be much higher than the 3 million living below the poverty line.</p></li>
<li><p>Partly due to the above, we lack reliable, systematic and publicly available data about cold houses in Australia. This makes it difficult to track and make visible the extent of the problem. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Realistically, most of us can do something about cold houses. We can, for example, spend more on power, fit solar panels, install insulation, or buy (or rent) well-designed warm houses. </p>
<p>For people who are unable to take these steps, the cold house phenomenon bites hard. It may be because their houses are not designed to stay warm in winter and they cannot afford improvements. They may be in a rental tenancy where the landlord is unwilling to complete upgrades, or heating costs may just be too high.</p>
<p>Whatever the reason, exposure to cold living environments has a well-documented range of health effects. These include cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness and communicable diseases.</p>
<p>Importantly, it’s often the people most vulnerable to these health effects who live in cold housing – the elderly and people with existing health conditions.</p>
<h2>What is our research finding?</h2>
<p>Preliminary findings from <a href="http://architecture.adelaide.edu.au/research/groups/healthy-cities/">a study</a> of cold houses in Adelaide this winter support the points above. The participants we interviewed experience cold housing for a wide range of reasons. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183551/original/file-20170828-27584-1eru2tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183551/original/file-20170828-27584-1eru2tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183551/original/file-20170828-27584-1eru2tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183551/original/file-20170828-27584-1eru2tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183551/original/file-20170828-27584-1eru2tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183551/original/file-20170828-27584-1eru2tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183551/original/file-20170828-27584-1eru2tq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sealing gaps can help keep out the cold, but some people aren’t in a position to upgrade and repair their homes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hands-worker-using-silicone-tube-repairing-584279548">shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For some, the cost of energy was broadly affordable, but the poor dwelling design meant heating had to be run all or most of the time. Once heating was turned off, draughts from badly sealed windows and doors, or lack of insulation in the walls and roof caused rooms to cool down quickly. </p>
<p>For others, the fear of a big energy bill stopped them using heating at all. They made do with whatever was available to them, such as extra layers of clothing and blankets.</p>
<p>These participants often had the worst housing, with no north-facing windows to make the most of any sunshine, no insulation, poor building sealing, inefficient heating and no foreseeable opportunity to improve the dwelling. </p>
<p>The poorest and the most unwell of our participants were keenly aware of the health effects of their cold houses, suggesting that “every illness is worse” in the cold. </p>
<h2>What can be done about cold housing?</h2>
<p>We suggest the following priorities to tackle the problem:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Develop the capacity to identify the people who are affected by cold housing. Though this likely touches many different households nationally, special targeted assistance to people who are especially vulnerable to cold housing or its health effects has a clear social justice justification. This assistance would be similar to the UK’s winter fuel payments. </p></li>
<li><p>Focus on making both new houses (with performance standards) and old houses (with retrofit schemes) better able to stay warm without over-reliance on heating.</p></li>
<li><p>Establish ways to reduce broader fuel poverty. This requires strong national leadership and large-scale policy responses that relieve the pressure of high energy costs for our most vulnerable. This may take the form of targeted energy concessions, standardising of consumer power contracts, or welfare-focused bulk energy purchasing schemes.</p></li>
<li><p>In the absence of reliable methods to measure the problem, we need to produce evidence and generate a national discussion.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>But the first step is breaking the myth of heat in Australia. Acknowledging that cold is a more pressing problem than heat forces us to look differently at building performance standards, underpins the need for design responses that are warm in winter as well as cool in summer, and focuses our attention on vulnerable Australians who need help to make their houses affordably warm.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83030/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Baker receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lyrian Daniel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The idea of a hot and sunny land is so baked into our thinking about Australia that we’ve failed to design and build houses that protect us from the cold.Lyrian Daniel, ARC Research Associate, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of AdelaideEmma Baker, Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/724382017-02-07T11:31:07Z2017-02-07T11:31:07ZPrivate tenants are putting up with dangerously cold homes, scared of eviction if they complain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155691/original/image-20170206-18980-zulnne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">via shutterstock.com </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Struggling tenants living in private rented accommodation are enduring dangerously cold homes and high heating bills. Our <a href="http://www4.shu.ac.uk/research/cresr/sites/shu.ac.uk/files/energy-inefficiency-private-rented-housing-final-report.pdf">new research</a> has found this is largely because they fear that asking their landlord to make improvements – such as installing more efficient heating or double glazing – might lead to rent increases or eviction. </p>
<p>The private rental sector in England is <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/501065/EHS_Headline_report_2014-15.pdf">the fastest growing</a> type of accommodation in the country, as home ownership becomes increasingly out of reach for young people and social housing more scarce. The sector also houses a higher proportion of poor and vulnerable households than any other tenure and these groups <a href="http://www.ukace.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ACE-consultation-response-2014-09-PRS-Regulations-Domestic.pdf">are among the least likely</a> to speak out against poor conditions. </p>
<p>But living in cold accommodation that is difficult to heat can be a threat to health. Evidence to a <a href="https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenergy/1744i_ii/1744we19.htm">2012 parliamentary enquiry</a> from the National Private Tenants Organisation suggested that 15% of private rented properties were so cold that they posed an immediate threat to health. </p>
<h2>Rationing the heating</h2>
<p>My <a href="http://www4.shu.ac.uk/research/cresr/sites/shu.ac.uk/files/energy-inefficiency-private-rented-housing-final-report.pdf">research</a>, with 50 people in England, found that rather than lobby landlords for improvements, tenants try and cope with cold homes by rationing heating, sometimes to as little as ten or 20 minutes a day, wearing outdoor clothing inside, spending extra time in bed or more time outside the home. The majority of the people I spoke to were employing a combination of these coping mechanisms. One person I interviewed in Hackney, north London, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s [expletive] cold, I put the duvet round me and just lie in bed, it’s not productive.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While tenants continue to tolerate cold homes, landlords will feel little pressure to address poor energy performance. But tenants are scared to speak out. </p>
<p>Among those I spoke to, private renting was no one’s first choice. An overheated rental market is leading tenants to compromise over the quality of the homes they choose, with many forced to accept the first place that they could afford. One tenant in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, told me: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was the first one I looked at and it was horrible, it was freezing … but they were the only landlords that I dared go to cos I think I would have failed a credit check.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the scramble to find somewhere to live, tenants overlook the signs that a property would be cold and difficult to heat. This leaves them with little bargaining power as in a buoyant rental market, low-income tenants are in a weak position to make demands of landlords. Tenants in London are particularly aware that their landlord could replace them tomorrow with someone willing to pay more rent than they could. So they often try to avoid troubling the landlord for anything, in the hope of avoiding rent increases or eviction. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155692/original/image-20170206-23515-oqhpsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155692/original/image-20170206-23515-oqhpsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155692/original/image-20170206-23515-oqhpsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155692/original/image-20170206-23515-oqhpsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155692/original/image-20170206-23515-oqhpsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155692/original/image-20170206-23515-oqhpsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155692/original/image-20170206-23515-oqhpsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Keeping an eye on the thermostat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Scared of what might happen</h2>
<p>We found the relationship between tenants and landlords was characterised by fear. Pre-payment meters which require advance payment for heat and energy, are a case in point. Over half of those I surveyed lived in properties with these meters, but because paying for energy via this method <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2015/09/cvs_progress_report_for_website_final.pdf">costs more</a> than paying monthly or quarterly, some tenants wanted them a removed. But this requires the landlord’s permission and most people who wanted their meter removed were too afraid to ask out of fear that their rent would go up.</p>
<p>Despite widespread dissatisfaction with living in cold homes, 47 of the 50 people I surveyed had not sought any help or advice. This was due to both a fear of having to involve the landlord and not knowing where to turn. They were rarely aware of schemes which provide subsidised energy efficiency measures to landlords, such as the <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/eco">Energy Company Obligation</a>. </p>
<p>We found that there were emotional consequences of living in a home that makes you unhappy and where you feel insecure. Participants were stressed about meeting high heating costs, and were eating poor quality food to free up money for heating. Yet dealing with the consequences of this was considered preferable to the prospect of eviction.</p>
<p>Improving the experience of low-income private renters will require a greater understanding of what drives landlords’ investment decisions. A combination of tougher regulation of the sector is needed, coupled with carefully targeted incentives to compel landlords to invest in making their properties more energy efficient.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72438/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aimee Ambrose receives funding from The Eaga Charitable Trust.</span></em></p>Renters worry that asking their landlords for better insulated homes could cause a rent hike.Aimee Ambrose, Senior Research Fellow, expert in domestic energy efficiency, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/482562015-10-12T04:25:54Z2015-10-12T04:25:54ZAn integrated, sustainable fix is key to solving Africa’s energy woes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97737/original/image-20151008-9682-tt4446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Solar energy is key to development in African countires</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two out of every three Africans – a staggering 620 million people – do not have <a href="http://app-cdn.acwupload.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/APP_REPORT_2015_FINAL_low1.pdf">access</a> to modern energy. And lack of energy is just one of <a href="http://africainequalities.org/">many challenges</a> in the Global South to sustainable development. It is abundantly clear that integrated solutions are required. </p>
<p>The UN’s response to energy and other forms of inequality has been to adopt 17 <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300">Sustainable Development Goals</a> (SDGs). This milestone marks an important step in synthesising solutions that go beyond one sector. </p>
<p>My own SDG journey started with observations made in multidisciplinary fieldwork <a href="http://trstmh.oxfordjournals.org/content/100/3/216.abstract">studies</a> in communities exposed to <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/schistosomiasis/">schistosomiasis</a> or bilharzia, in East Africa. In most communities I saw some form of health infrastructure, service provision and equipment. Typically, there was no sustainable energy supply to run equipment, very little capacity for building maintenance and staff were badly paid.</p>
<p>This is the case for most on the African continent. With the advent of the SDGs, minds will be hopefully moved towards integrated solutions. Solutions that combine:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>building resilient infrastructure;</p></li>
<li><p>providing sustainable energy;</p></li>
<li><p>introducing universal health care, education and nutrition; and</p></li>
<li><p>generating opportunities for economic prosperity and community empowerment.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The evidence base to support integrated solutions should come from <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800913001377">transdisciplinary research</a>. In the health sector, such evidence comes from the outputs of projects like the EU-funded <a href="http://www.healthyfutures.eu/">Healthy Futures</a>.</p>
<p>There, several actors from academia, meteorological services, civil servants and other stakeholders from African countries joined forces to develop a series of <a href="http://zgis186.geo.sbg.ac.at/hf_atlas/">risk maps</a>. These maps link climate change to diseases like malaria, rift valley fever and Schistosoma mansoni in East Africa. Information that helps policy makers allocate limited resources.</p>
<h2>Experience sparked action</h2>
<p>My research and experiences encouraged me to engage with a <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/dei/projects/ushd/partners/">consortium</a> to create a verbal model for integrated solutions to sustainable development. The consortium’s current aim is to engage and shape this model into affordable projects. The projects combine <a href="http://www.britannica.com/art/green-architecture">green architecture</a>, sustainable energy, commercial and civic services and research.</p>
<p>The verbal model, known as the <a href="http://www.dur.ac.uk/dei/projects/ushd">Universal Sustainable Habitat Development</a> (USHD), considers how large, energy-efficient community buildings like schools and hospitals could be designed and built to provide many of the resources required for sustainable, healthy communities. Readily available technologies for the model include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>solar panels for heating, lighting and powering electrical devices and equipment;</p></li>
<li><p>rainwater harvesting for collection and storage of water; and</p></li>
<li><p>anaerobic digestion for conversion of organic waste into energy and fertiliser.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97738/original/image-20151008-9670-1kw03ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97738/original/image-20151008-9670-1kw03ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97738/original/image-20151008-9670-1kw03ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97738/original/image-20151008-9670-1kw03ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97738/original/image-20151008-9670-1kw03ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97738/original/image-20151008-9670-1kw03ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97738/original/image-20151008-9670-1kw03ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97738/original/image-20151008-9670-1kw03ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Solar energy panels and the tanks to produce biogas in Egypt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amel Pain/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of these technologies, solar power is the most critical. The UK’s Department for International Development has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/shapps-solar-energy-key-to-fight-against-poverty">recently endorsed</a> solar as a key technology for reducing poverty. Solar addresses a fundamental issue of electrifying hard-to-reach communities because it can work entirely off grid. It also offers a real alternative to costly and unreliable energy based on fossil fuels. </p>
<p>Preliminary <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/dei/projects/ushd/research/">calculations</a> indicate that by attaching solar panels to a large building, off-grid energy can be supplied to the building for all its energy needs – at a relatively low running cost. These buildings should have two features:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>They are architecturally designed to make it energy sufficient.</p></li>
<li><p>They have a building management system to make it energy efficient.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If these conditions are met, a USHD facility could offer low whole life-cycle <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole-life_cost">costs</a>. This can be seen as a crucial incentive for investment in any domain. In health, for example, a major barrier to providing sustainable services in low- to middle-income countries is the lack of resources and incentives required for <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/8/247">retention</a> of the health workforce in rural areas. </p>
<p>A USHD health centre could both attract staff and offer improved services for people exposed to neglected tropical <a href="http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/en/">diseases</a>. </p>
<h2>There are still many questions</h2>
<p>We cannot assume a one-size-fits-all approach in a <a href="http://www.data.unicef.org/gen2030/">rapidly expanding</a>, diverse and geographically fragmented population. Each physical implementation of the model would have its own set of requirements. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Each project must be locally contextualised. </p></li>
<li><p>There must be stakeholder engagement.</p></li>
<li><p>Transdisciplinary research is essential. It encompasses engineering, architecture, social, health, educational, economic and other sciences.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Many research subject areas are possible and individual projects can draw on previous research in each domain. This includes investigating how the USHD:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>affects perceptions of <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0973082615000320">energy-security</a>;</p></li>
<li><p>contributes to improved understanding of maintaining storage devices such as <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148115003006">batteries</a> in communities not used to the technology;</p></li>
<li><p>supports the positive relationship between <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/%7E/media/mckinsey/dotcom/insights/energy%20resources%20materials/powering%20africa/brighter_africa_the_growth_potential_of_the_sub-saharan_electricity_sector.ashx">energy supply and GDP</a>; and</p></li>
<li><p>reverses the fact that buildings are ordinarily <a href="http://www.unep.org/sbci/pdfs/SBCI-BCCSummary.pdf">potent emitters of carbon dioxide</a>, which is a major driver of climate change.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>From model to implementation</h2>
<p>Each UHSD model can be physically implemented in pilot projects with appropriate funding. </p>
<p>Whether USHD facilities will ever be physically implemented at scale depends to some extent on the success of schemes like the EU’s <a href="http://www.se4all.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/4b1-Presentation_ElectriFI_R_Ridolfi.pdf">Electrifi</a> project. They encourage the private sector into the <a href="http://www.se4all.org/">Sustainable Energy for all</a> domain. </p>
<p>Its success as a framework for linking the SDG objectives will depend on widespread acceptance that integrated approaches have a potentially multiplicative benefit. But an even more widespread acceptance that sustainable development will only happen if we work together.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48256/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Booth received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 266327 for the Healthy Futures project.</span></em></p>Integrated research is key to sustainable development, which helps Africa resolve its energy woes.Mark Booth, Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/458192015-08-09T20:34:21Z2015-08-09T20:34:21ZRecycling rules: carnival of coal is a blast from the PR past<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91102/original/image-20150807-9941-10jobtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Coal PR has been promoting coal's benefits for decades. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/62459458@N08/5945751835/in/photolist-a4pwSF-P3xp4-kaodgD-b6EuYk-b6EtfH-8yAYxA-4gRwH8-76qdx5-a4MVfc-bc2jg4-5wyicq-4gVB4j-7f22f-f32k98-ieg6ro-8EVRmL-v7oUDw-32VjBv-9zb64i-rd6Trt-6w7Qxu-76qe5f-76qdXE-96mtvF-oGakAT-oEc2zm-7jF2eB-rcUCqQ-9DSzjR-9DVqNE-7jJSyL-diJCTa-aHGUpr-9aBkQZ-rCYBfK-9oKqCT-7Pe2uP-dg2GUh-uRHgZW-fAaYES-t5t2Ph-sq2LnC-t5sTU9-tn71Ep-tn7dur-sqdaei-t5zHMa-dgt8hx-5vjdJF-7xGorg">Jeremy Buckingham/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A politician invites coal industry representatives to a celebration of their work at the New South Wales Parliament. The purpose? To push the message that coal is absolutely essential to our economy and well-being. </p>
<p>This is about to happen – Liberal MP Dr Peter Phelps is hosting a <a href="https://newmatilda.com/2015/07/21/liberal-host-carnival-coal-make-eco-lunatics-lose-their-minds">Carnival of Coal</a> tomorrow “to declare support for coal and associated industries and to send a loud and clear message that action is needed now to protect a secure, inexpensive energy future”.</p>
<p>Such political promotion is a response to growing public criticism of an industry that is a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-06/un-climate-negotiator-urges-australia-to-take-leadership-role/6448802">major contributor to anthropogenic climate change</a> and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-13/liverpool-plains-farmers-vow-legal-action-to-stop-shenhua-mine/6616940">threat to agricultural land</a>. </p>
<p>In response to public criticism industries often appeal to broader <a href="http://www.envplan.com/abstract.cgi?id=a44565">orders of worth</a> to justify their actions. </p>
<p>The Australian coal industry has a long history of such public justification, often invoking its contribution to the civic and national good.</p>
<h2>‘Energy for living’</h2>
<p>For instance, a photo in the November 1993 issue of the trade journal <em>The Miner</em> shows then NSW Premier John Fahey at a lectern emblazoned with posters proclaiming “Coal: Energy for Living”. </p>
<p>In one poster a young blonde girl holds a safety helmet, complete with lamp, above her head, smiling at her equally blond father. Not a speck of the black stuff is to be seen.</p>
<p>Another poster in the campaign shows a coal miner cradling a baby, accompanied by the claim that “Young Harry will use a lot of energy throughout his life. His own energy… plus a lot of electricity from Australian Coal.” In school tours promoting coal <em>The Miner</em> reported that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A pantomime, performed by professional actors, starred “mutant cane toads” and “prince polie” and showed how life-giving energy could be released from the black rocks. This may sound corny, but it had even the most cynical deeply impressed. Education representatives said that it brought the house down in its first day of school touring.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>‘Clean coal’</h2>
<p>Of course the past 20 years have seen significant advances in coal public relations. </p>
<p>In 2008, the Australian Coal Association launched its <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyEt3lGQVWw">NewGen Coal campaign</a>, trumpeting carbon capture and storage (CCS) and “clean coal” (a promise made since the 1980s) as the answer to mitigating the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lyEt3lGQVWw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>In 2013 it emerged that the <a href="http://www.minerals.org.au/resources/coal21/about_coal21">A$1 billion fund</a> established to encourage CCS had been <a href="http://www.cedaily.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&stream=3&selkey=50446&hlc=2&hlw=">expanded to include promoting coal use</a>.</p>
<p>In 2013, Peabody, the world’s largest privately owned coal company, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2014/oct/14/how-big-coal-is-lobbying-g20-leaders-and-trying-to-capture-the-global-poverty-debate">hired public relations firm Burson-Marstellar</a>, (best known for its work for Union Carbide after the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster">Bhopal gas leak disaster</a>) to help design a pro-coal campaign. </p>
<p>During the intense lobbying in the lead-up to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit negotiations, mining companies were among those asserting that only coal could free billions from energy poverty [“Business Vocal at Greenhouse Negotiations”, <em>Australian Journal of Mining</em>, March, p.42].</p>
<p>Echoing these arguments, the Peabody campaign <a href="https://www.advancedenergyforlife.com/">Advanced Energy for Life</a>, emphasises that while all forms of energy are necessary, coal is still the cheapest way to reduce energy poverty. </p>
<p>This is classic wedge politics, painting opposition to increased coal exports as tantamount to wanting the poor to stay poor and ill. Many have challenged this, <a href="https://www.oxfam.org.au/2015/07/powering-up-against-poverty-why-renewable-energy-is-the-future/">including recently Oxfam</a>. </p>
<p>In 2014 Peabody’s chief executive even tried to claim increased use of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/19/peabody-energy-exploited-ebola-crisis-for-corporate-gain-say-health-experts">coal as a response to the spread of Ebola</a>. </p>
<p>Locally, the NSW Minerals Council, headed by Stephen Galilee, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/minerals-chief-rises-to-a-test-of-mettle/story-e6frg9df-1226837644050">former chief of staff to NSW Premier Mike Baird when he was treasurer</a>, runs a campaign extolling mining’s contribution to, among other things, <a href="http://www.worldclassminers.com.au/news/community/miners-help-give-students-life-education/">Life Education</a>, while implying that opponents of coal <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3001540/mining-hits-back-at-thoroughbed-horse-breeding-industry/">are the dupes of millionaires</a>.</p>
<h2>‘Coal is good for humanity’</h2>
<p>To be fair, there has been progress; in recent years the industry has sought to reflect multicultural society. Len Tong, who arrived in Australia as a three-year-old refugee, <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/australian-mining-launches-this-is-our-story-ad-49123">featured in an advert</a> in the Minerals Council’s “<a href="http://thisisourstory.com.au/our-stories.aspx">Mining: This is our Story</a>” campaign, launched during the 2011 campaign against the carbon tax. </p>
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<p>The NSW Minerals Council’s “<a href="http://www.nswmining.com.au/people/hurt-mining-hurt-nsw">Hurt Mining, Hurt NSW</a>” is also studiously multicultural.</p>
<p>As Paul Cleary’s 2012 book <a href="http://www.blackincbooks.com/books/mine-field">Mine-field</a> makes clear, the mining industry is adept at highlighting its (relatively small levels) of indigenous employment. Cleary recounts the October 2011 launch of the government’s Indigenous Economic Development Strategy basically being hijacked by the mining industry, with the then indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin “completely blindsided by a carefully orchestrated PR campaign”.</p>
<p>The biggest success for the coal industry is getting their words into the mouths of elite decision-makers. Famously, when opening the Caval Ridge mine in October 2014, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/coal-is-good-for-humanity-says-tony-abbott-at-mine-opening-20141013-115bgs.html">Tony Abbott intoned</a>: “Coal is good for humanity.” </p>
<p>More simply, <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3041200/coal-is-good-baird/">NSW Premier Mike Baird</a>, on a tour of a horse stud in the coalmine-dotted Hunter Valley, proclaimed that “coal is good”.</p>
<p>The Australian coal industry has spent significant amounts of money and energy defending its position. It has fought a rearguard action against climate regulation and the growth of renewables with vehemence, skill and determination. </p>
<p>Although the coal industry’s financial position <a href="http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2015/7/30/energy-markets/peabody-records-12b-loss-first-half-2015">looks shakier than ever</a>, it would be a brave person who would bet against its continued success in delaying climate action. It may, however, require some better memes.</p>
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<p><a href="http://aom.org/">Christopher Wright is a member of the Academy of Management</a></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Wright has received funding from the Australian Research Council. Christopher Wright is an Academy of Management scholar.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc Hudson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A politician invites coal industry representatives to a celebration of their work at the New South Wales Parliament. The purpose? To push the message that coal is absolutely essential to our economy and wellbeing.Marc Hudson, Researcher, University of Manchester, University of ManchesterChristopher Wright, Professor of Organisational Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202802013-11-26T16:13:54Z2013-11-26T16:13:54ZOfgem faces select committee, but market reform still lags<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36193/original/h6279jyc-1385481881.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Restructuring the market is harder than it looks.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Cheskin/PA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With high energy prices all anyone can talk about this winter, <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/%E2%80%8E">Ofgem</a>’s interim chief Andrew Wright appeared before MPs today to defend the regulator’s performance. Predictably, he was met with some hostile questions about how energy company <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/25/energy-big-six-profit-customers-ofgem">profits have jumped 77%</a>, and whether Ofgem is doing enough to protect consumers. While he defended Ofgem’s overall approach, he <a href="http://politics.co.uk/news/2013/11/26/you-re-just-toothless-mps-mock-ofgem-chief-as-energy-profits">conceded</a> that more might need to be done to rebuild public trust in the energy market.</p>
<p>The government and Ofgem have been discussing market reform for some time. Ofgem started its latest review of retail markets <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/retail-market-review/retail-market-review-publications">in late 2010</a>. New measures will include simplified tariffs, implemented at the behest of the government, and measures to make switching between suppliers easier. The government has also announced an annual review of competition in the wholesale market. At least one of the Big Six energy suppliers, E.On UK, has openly welcomed such a review. The question is whether, given that some reforms are already underway, calls for more intervention are warranted. Furthermore, would they have an impact on household bills?</p>
<p>On balance, there are good reasons for pushing the Big Six energy suppliers to be more transparent. They should be required to provide more information to Ofgem about their trading activities and the terms of the wholesale gas supply contracts they hold. This would help to resolve a discrepancy: the Big Six companies claim that rising wholesale gas prices are pushing up bills, while Ofgem’s analysis found wholesale costs have risen by just 1.7% over the past year. One independent energy supplier, <a href="http://www.ovoenergy.com/">Ovo Energy</a>, supported Ofgem’s view during a hearing of the House of Commons energy committee last month. Their managing director [told the committee](that gave evidence](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24728992) that “the most expensive price we’ve paid for wholesale gas in the last four years was in May 2011 and since then it’s been [less]”.</p>
<h2>Market reform, second time lucky</h2>
<p>Greater separation between the generation and retail businesses owned by the Big Six also merits serious attention. These companies supply significant amounts of energy to themselves, and independent electricity generators often complain that they <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/63996/liquidity-factsheetweb.pdf">cannot get fair prices</a> for the power they produce. This has been an important issue for the government’s proposals designed to finance new, low carbon power stations. But it has received little attention during the reform process.</p>
<p>As is often the case, we have been here before. Under the power market that operated in the UK <a href="http://www.hks.harvard.edu/hepg/Papers/Green%20-Draining%20the%20pool_12-98.pdf">until 2001</a>, all electricity had to be traded. Furthermore, there were rules in place that prevented the kind of vertical integration and the advantages it confers that we have now.</p>
<p>In hindsight, the previous regulatory regime starts to look more attractive than it once did – particularly now that there is a much greater need for new investment. The Big Six cannot deliver the amount of investment required for the UK’s low carbon transition on their own. It is therefore important to have market arrangements that actively encourage investment from independents too.</p>
<h2>Playing the long game</h2>
<p>Of course, market reforms can only be a partial solution to rising bills. Longer-term strategies are needed to ensure that energy policy goals can be met affordably – providing incentives to move away from fossil fuels, and improving energy efficiency.</p>
<p>The so-called ‘green taxes’ that are added to energy bills to pay for these policies have risen over the last few years. But they still <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/understanding-energy-prices">only account for 9%</a> of a typical household dual-fuel bill. They have not been the main cause of price increases over the past few years. And in any case, Britain still has some of the <a href="http://www.energy.eu/">lowest household energy prices</a> in the EU.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36068/original/rf7g6zjq-1385401780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36068/original/rf7g6zjq-1385401780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36068/original/rf7g6zjq-1385401780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36068/original/rf7g6zjq-1385401780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36068/original/rf7g6zjq-1385401780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36068/original/rf7g6zjq-1385401780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36068/original/rf7g6zjq-1385401780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36068/original/rf7g6zjq-1385401780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Britain’s energy prices are not the highest in Europe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UKERC</span></span>
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<p>It is worth remembering that the purpose of these policies is to support new technologies, to provide incentives to shift away from fossil fuels and – most important in the current context – to improve the energy efficiency of our homes. Policies in the latter category have come under particular scrutiny as utilities have projected large (and in some cases inexplicable) increases in the cost of implementing the new Energy Company Obligation. Such scrutiny is welcome, but this should not detract from the important role these policies play. </p>
<p>Ideally, these costs should not be passed on to consumers through their energy bills. It would be more progressive to fund them from general taxation, which would reduce the burden felt by those on low incomes. Not surprisingly, the energy companies have become increasingly enthusiastic about the idea.</p>
<p>But there is one big risk. The UK economy is still struggling to emerge from the financial crisis and recession, and while there are signs of stronger economic growth there is a long way to go. Austerity will be with us for many years to come. If programmes to support cleaner energy or to improve energy efficiency are shifted to taxation, what will stop a future Chancellor of the Exchequer from cutting them at short notice? It would be ironic if the rows about energy bills simply led to the downgrading or the demise of policies that are designed to mitigate climate change and to reduce our exposure to high fossil fuel prices.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/20280/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The UKERC is funded by the ESRC, EPSRC and NERC. Jim Watson receives funding from EPSRC to carry out a research project on infrastructure transitions at Sussex, and from E.On and EPSRC for supervising a PhD studentship at Sussex University, where he is Professor of Energy Policy. He is a Council Member of the British Institute of Energy Economics (BIEE), trustee of the Chesshire Lehman Fund fuel poverty charity, and member of the steering group of Carbon Connect's Future Electricity Series.</span></em></p>With high energy prices all anyone can talk about this winter, Ofgem’s interim chief Andrew Wright appeared before MPs today to defend the regulator’s performance. Predictably, he was met with some hostile…Jim Watson, Research Director, UK Energy Research CentreLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194992013-10-23T13:00:06Z2013-10-23T13:00:06ZRaise income tax to tackle escalating energy prices<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33589/original/ztrtjf8s-1382528819.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">10% price rises are becoming the new normal.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rui Vieira/PA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Energy prices seem seldom out of the news. Politicians show their frustration with the energy market in proposing various solutions.</p>
<p>This week Tory grandee and former prime minister John Major has called for a <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/off-message/2013/10/22/john-major-proposes-another-one-off-windfall-tax/">tax on energy companies</a>. Last month at the Labour Party conference Ed Milliband proposed a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24213366">20 month price freeze</a>. And last year, David Cameron had his own stab at “solving” the energy market, proposing that each company should be <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9615039/David-Cameron-to-force-energy-companies-into-giving-customers-cheapest-price.html">restricted to a single tariff</a> in order to facilitate choosing between competing firms.</p>
<p>It is easy to sympathise with these attempts to tackle an issue of considerable and understandable concern to voters. But they rely on limited understanding of the domestic energy market. Consumers are not switching their supplier much, partly because it is boring and (to some extent) difficult; they would prefer “the market” to solve the problem by assuring them they are not being ripped off with expensive tariffs. </p>
<p>But the market is not very competitive, and proposals to limit companies’ range of action are likely to have the incidental impact of rendering it even less so. It’s not the only market in which consumers get poor deals - the savings industry is another. But consumers spend a significant proportion of their budget on energy, and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/10389937/Energy-secretary-demands-British-Gas-meeting-over-unjustifiable-energy-price-rise.html">price hikes</a> of up to 10% have become almost routine, blowing a hole in many consumers’ budgets. This is not a market where prices can be frozen for long without real consequences.</p>
<h2>Have costs increased?</h2>
<p>Companies, predictably, say that costs have increased, or are due to increase. Actually, it’s remarkably difficult either to demonstrate or disprove this claim, so far as input costs are concerned, for two reasons. One is that the companies buy a portfolio of future contracts in order to ensure that the wholesale supplies they will have are enough to meet future demand. So the only way to keep a rough track on this is to assume a particular portfolio structure over time and plot the difference between this and retail prices, <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/gas/retail-market/monitoring-data-and-statistics/electricity-and-gas-supply-market-indicators/?start_date=0&end_date=24#charts">as Ofgem does.</a></p>
<p>But there is a second feature. The wholesale market is by no means transparent because all six major electricity suppliers are also major generators, selling to themselves. So to keep track it’s necessary to examine profitability across both stages. This lack of transparency is what creates significant difficulties for potential new players on the supply side, in principle a rather competitive business. So it’s difficult to assess whether the companies are “too” profitable overall.</p>
<h2>Follow the money</h2>
<p>What we can say, roughly, is where the money has gone, after the event. One thing the big six have been obliged to do by Ofgem for the past couple of years is publish accounts with some separation of costs. The most interesting of these (because the most potentially opaque) are the accounts for domestic electricity retailing; those for 2012 are the <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/74764/energycompaniespublish2012consolidatedsegmentalstatements.pdf">most recent available.</a></p>
<p>They show that all the companies spent roughly half the revenue they got from domestic electricity consumers on their fuel costs. They then spend around 20% on distribution and transmission costs - these are regulated elements of cost. The bit that is least clear is their “supply costs” - the costs of running their retail operations - because these contain a variety of items including marketing costs and a profit margin. In total, though, these are perhaps 10% of the revenues.</p>
<p>The companies also claim they need to invest in new generation facilities, so need some headroom in prices. There is some truth in this, because our old and dirty power stations are coming towards a forced end to their life. There is truth also in their claim that increasing amounts are being added to the bill by imposed environmental measures, themselves proposed by the government. These include the money they are forced to spend to try to make our homes better insulated, plus the money they in effect pay out to subsidise solar and wind generation. Emissions and environmental costs added 11% to the typical bill in 2012, and the bad news for consumers is that this element is set to rise over time.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33592/original/rcx8994q-1382532059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33592/original/rcx8994q-1382532059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33592/original/rcx8994q-1382532059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33592/original/rcx8994q-1382532059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33592/original/rcx8994q-1382532059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33592/original/rcx8994q-1382532059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33592/original/rcx8994q-1382532059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33592/original/rcx8994q-1382532059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A breakdown of a typical household energy bill.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ofgem: Household energy bills explained/Factsheet 98/Feb 2013</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Supply gap</h2>
<p>So one government aim, concerned as we must be with the potential impact of global warming and the influence of fossil fuels, is pushing policies that raise energy prices to consumers. But voters have a short-term interest in seeing low prices, and an increasing proportion find themselves in fuel poverty. It really is an intractable issue, made worse by the increasingly wide gap between rich and poor in this country. It is not going to improve. </p>
<p>Governments have dithered about how to meet the inevitable supply gap created by decommissioning old coal and nuclear power stations, and in this sense the recent agreement over the <a href="https://theconversation.com/hinkley-c-goes-ahead-but-future-nuclear-costs-must-fall-19407">Hinkley Point C</a> nuclear power station is welcome news. But the power it will supply is going to be very expensive; around double current wholesale prices. </p>
<p>With this deal, plus governmental subsidies for wind and solar power, we are moving away from a market for wholesale power towards a managed system. It is also an inherently less reliable system - wind and solar power is not flexible - so needs backup from gas power stations and other more rapid response facilities, which requires investment. So long-term power needs will be assured only at high prices.</p>
<h2>An unpopular solution</h2>
<p>Moves to open up the wholesale market, although not headline grabbing, are the best way to inject more competition into the retail market. But because the retail profit margins are modest, there is limited headroom for lower prices from this source; a 5% fall would be at the optimistic end of the spectrum, and of course the other pressures discussed above are all in the other direction, and are larger. So increased competition at the retail level is unlikely to increase downward pressure on wholesale prices much.</p>
<p>In sum, my view is that the energy market is an area which exposes the increased income inequality that Britain has experienced for some years now. There are very many people in the UK who find it difficult or impossible even now to afford their energy bills and unfortunately I think this will only increase, given the price pressures. </p>
<p>Therefore, in my opinion, an even more difficult political decision needs to be made - deliberately reduce inequality and even out the income distribution by raising income tax and increasing transfers to the poor, in order to make the higher energy costs more affordable for all. Subsidies for energy would be a short-term fix, not a long-term solution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/19499/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Waterson receives funding from the EPSRC and is also a consultant to the National Audit Office on energy matters. He writes here in a purely personal capacity.</span></em></p>Energy prices seem seldom out of the news. Politicians show their frustration with the energy market in proposing various solutions. This week Tory grandee and former prime minister John Major has called…Michael Waterson, Professor of Industrial Economics, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/94842012-09-20T01:54:14Z2012-09-20T01:54:14ZHousing stress and energy poverty – a deadly mix?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15462/original/cw4gkdqb-1347593262.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Housing stress and energy poverty are compromising the health of low-income Australians.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">onecellotheory/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The well-being of low-income Australian households is being seriously undermined by the increasing cost of housing and electricity. Many such households are suffering from both housing stress and energy poverty. </p>
<p>Housing stress occurs when low-income households (the bottom 40% of households) use about a third of their income to pay for accommodation. Energy poverty, we suggest, occurs when low-income households spend 10% or more of after-tax income on household energy bills, in addition to rent or mortgage payments. </p>
<p>No Australian studies have examined the link between housing stress and energy poverty, and its effect on well being. But findings from <a href="http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=656764580142785;res=IELHSS">our current research</a> suggest that they often go hand-in-hand, and financial hardship is an ever present reality in the households concerned.</p>
<h2>The extent of housing stress</h2>
<p>The data on housing stress alone is well developed. The COAG Reform Council’s <a href="http://www.coagreformcouncil.gov.au/reports/housing.cfm">annual report</a> on the state of housing in Australia, paints a dismal picture. In 2009-2010, 42% of low-income households in the private rental market were suffering from housing stress, up from 37% in 2007-08. </p>
<p>More than half of private renters in the lowest 10% of households by income were in housing stress during this period. The same report concluded that in 2009-10, 37% of low-income households with a mortgage were also suffering from housing stress.</p>
<h2>The extent of energy poverty</h2>
<p>The proportion of low-income households suffering from energy poverty is less clear. What is evident is that increases in electricity prices have far outstripped inflation and wage increases. </p>
<p>An Australia-wide snapshot of average electricity price increases over the past five years shows that New South Wales household electricity prices rose 80%, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania by 60%, and in Western Australia by 57%. Over the same period the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6401.0">Consumer Price Index</a> rose by 14.5%, and average weekly earnings by over a quarter.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15463/original/z5bw7ny2-1347593425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15463/original/z5bw7ny2-1347593425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15463/original/z5bw7ny2-1347593425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15463/original/z5bw7ny2-1347593425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15463/original/z5bw7ny2-1347593425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15463/original/z5bw7ny2-1347593425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15463/original/z5bw7ny2-1347593425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A larger portion of disposable income is being spent on energy bills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alskai/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So now an increasing number of low-income households are suffering from energy poverty. <a href="http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4442.0.55.0012009-10?OpenDocument">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a> data show that in 2009-2010, the lowest 20% of Australian households had an average weekly income of $314. Their average expenditure on household energy was 7% of disposable income – three times more than the wealthiest households. These figures don’t take account of the more recent substantial electricity price increases. </p>
<p>Indeed, our research signals that much higher proportions are now being paid. This partly confirms the <a href="http://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/Home/Industries/Electricity/Reviews_All/Retail_Pricing/Changes_in_regulated_electricity_retail_prices_from_1_July_2011/14_Jun_2011_-_Final_Report/Final_Report_-_Changes_in_regulated_electricity_retail_prices_from_1_July_2011_-_June_2011">NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal’s</a> recent estimate that 5% of Sydney households, and 8% of households in country New South Wales were paying more than 10% of disposable income on electricity bills. </p>
<p>In Victoria, electricity and gas bills have been found to be the greatest cause of <a href="http://epubs.scu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1111&context=jesp">rental arrears</a> (63% of cases). And the ABS found nearly 40% of the two lowest household income groups were unable to pay electricity, gas or telephone bills on time during 2010. </p>
<h2>The toll on well-being</h2>
<p>There’s growing evidence that the combination of housing and energy stress can have serious impacts on health. Since mid-2000, the not-for-profit sector has provided snapshots of such difficulties as low-income households cut back on essentials in order to pay for electricity. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-14/energy-hike/4069678">The Salvation Army</a> recently found that in regional New South Wales, just over half the people are going without meals to pay for electricity. A third of these people could not afford to heat their homes. </p>
<p>In 2010, the <a href="http://www.wesleymission.org.au/Research/Financial_Stress/Report/Online%20report/The%20Wesley%20Report%20Oct%202010.pdf">Wesley Mission</a> concluded that more than two-thirds of financially stressed households were making sacrifices to meet electricity price increases, and 10% were unable to meet the cost.</p>
<p>Research by <a href="http://acoss.org.au/images/uploads/AJSI_Vol423.pdf">one of the authors</a> on older private renters under housing stress found the impact was often devastating; interviewees told of how they were unable to feed themselves adequately or replace essential items. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15464/original/9jkcqx5x-1347593801.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15464/original/9jkcqx5x-1347593801.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15464/original/9jkcqx5x-1347593801.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15464/original/9jkcqx5x-1347593801.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15464/original/9jkcqx5x-1347593801.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15464/original/9jkcqx5x-1347593801.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15464/original/9jkcqx5x-1347593801.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In some instances, housing stress and energy poverty are forcing people to skip meals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">andreeapl/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Social isolation was also a common problem. After paying for accommodation, electricity and telephone, there was no money left to engage in the world. As one interviewee said, “Well you sort of think what you can do with $2.50 [the cost of a public transport day pass]. That’s a loaf of bread type of thing.” </p>
<p>Besides the physical implications of inadequate nutrition, the psychological implications of housing stress and energy poverty can be profound. Many of the interviewees were plagued by constant anxiety and depression was common. The not-for-profit sector is also reporting that these impacts of housing stress and energy poverty are becoming more widespread. </p>
<p>These are “real” live consequences of public policies on Australia’s 3.5 million low-income households. And they are, for the large part, being ignored by the political debate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/9484/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Morris is affiliated with the University of New South Wales </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lynne Chester has received funding from the Australian Energy Market Commission (Consumer Advocacy Panel) for a project investigating the impacts of higher electricity prices on low-income households.</span></em></p>The well-being of low-income Australian households is being seriously undermined by the increasing cost of housing and electricity. Many such households are suffering from both housing stress and energy…Alan Morris, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, UNSW SydneyLynne Chester, Department of Political Economy, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.