ABSTRACT

In its entirety, the evidence presented in this book points to a mounting ‘hidden’ geography of energy poverty in the former socialist countries of Eastern and Central Europe. Although the problem varies drastically across different spaces and contexts, it clearly does not conform to the conventional definition of poverty. Instead, domestic energy deprivation arises via an interaction of inadequate incomes, poor housing, and specific household circumstances. Its causal factors are deeply networked and embedded in the economy, which implies that the emergence of this condition has farranging implications for post-socialist energy, social welfare and housing reforms, among other issues. It can be argued that many of the main structural problems in the energy sectors of transformation states are linked to energy efficiency, poverty and affordability.