Fuel poverty and invisible energy policy – UCL Energy Seminar

Seminar summary

Fuel poverty is recognised as a distinct social justice problem in the UK. However, the ways in which it is framed and addressed by government policy have increasingly come under academic scrutiny. In particular, research has highlighted its narrow framing as a problem of technical efficiency and adequate space heating, raising concern about the lack of attention given to wider structural issues and other energy uses that are essential for people’s wellbeing and social participation (e.g. Middlemiss, 2016; Simcock et al, 2016).

This has led to calls for greater understanding of the complex underlying causes of people’s vulnerabilities to energy poverty, and for insights into how non-energy policies and processes of governance may have an indirect impact on people’s energy use, access, and affordability.

The research that forms of the focus of this presentation used in-depth qualitative interviews to examine welfare and employment policies and show their influence on people’s energy needs, their ability to meet those needs and their quality of life and wellbeing. The paper gives insight into the interrelations between energy vulnerability and poverty, and discusses the implications of more complex understandings of fuel poverty for governance.

The seminar will be followed by a drinks reception from about 6.30pm.

About the speaker

Dr Catherine Butler is Senior Lecturer in Human Geography within the Environment and Sustainability Research group at University of Exeter. Her research examines issues of governance and public participation in responses to socio-environmental challenges. She is currently Principle Investigator on an EPSRC-funded grant examining the impacts of welfare and employment policy on energy demand problems. She has published widely on social dimensions of energy system transitions and climate change adaptation, and she is the convener of the British Sociological Association Climate Change Study Group.

Top image: Photo by Phil Pearson on Unsplash

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