According to CBS head economist Peter Hein van Mulligen, more people have had difficulty paying their gas and power bill, because support measures such as the price ceiling and the energy allowance have since been abolished. These measures were temporarily introduced after the energy prices went through the roof in 2022 after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Most households with a low income could count on an energy supplement of 1300 euros per year in 2022 and 2023.
In addition to the loss of that financial support, energy prices have now also stabilized at a high level, says TNO researcher Anika Batenburg. Households have therefore seen their energy costs rise to an average of more than 170 euros per month. Those increasing costs also cause more energy poverty.
Risk
There is also energy poverty if people with a low income have relatively high heating costs or live in a poorly insulated house. They then run the risk of not being able to pay their bill. Because of that fear, they often do not dare to raise their heating in the winter and are then in the cold.
Often it concerns single tenants who have to live on benefits or modest pension. They usually live in the big cities or in the regions of Northeast Groningen or South Limburg, according to the research of Statistics Netherlands and TNO.
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The energy poverty is now lower than in 2019, when more than 8 percent of households had to do with it. According to the CBS and TNO, that has since fallen to 6.1 percent, because many houses have become more energy efficient in recent years thanks to better insulation. People also started firing less because of the high gas price.
Income policy
According to Batenburg, the energy poverty can be fought further by making even more rental and owner-occupied homes energy efficient. But the TNO researcher acknowledges that even then a considerable group will still keep trouble paying the energy bill.
“Income policy could be an option for that group. But that choice is for politics,” emphasizes Batenburg.
Vulnerable
In addition to the people who live in energy poverty, Statistics Netherlands and TNO also a million households who are also at risk. These households are not low in energy, but according to the research have a low middle income in combination with high energy costs or a poorly insulated house. “They are therefore also vulnerable in high energy prices.”
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This risk group spends an average of 193 euros on gas and electricity every month. That amounts to almost 8 percent of their income. With an average household, almost 5 percent of the income is swallowed up by the energy bill. Households that struggle with energy poverty even spend almost 12 percent on it.