Assessing energy justice in EU-funded energy poverty alleviation projects

It has been estimated that in the EU, some form of energy poverty affects around 50 million people. EU policies strive to tackle the issue as part of a just and inclusive energy transition, however, due to the complex origins of energy poverty and understudied impacts of energy interventions (e.g. introduction of new digital technologies) it is not always clear whether certain approaches result in fairer outcomes overall for the citizens involved. Through a sociotechnical lens, we aim to assess energy justice outcomes of a purposeful selection of EU-funded projects. We complement existing project reporting with a qualitative analysis that explores the relationship between household energy interventions and energy justice impacts. Using the capability approach as our framework for conceptualising energy justice in this case, we present preliminary results relating to how energy poor households conceptualise their needs and quality of life and how the energy interventions in the projects analysed impact on these.