ABSTRACT
Energy poverty in North Macedonia has characteristics similar to those of a subsistence economy. First, a high proportion of households are living in precarious material conditions and are facing problems of material deprivation. Second, energy poverty is affected by housing ownership, leading to individual management of heating and housing, and the housing stock is mostly detached houses with little thermal insulation. Third, the main heating sources are monopolized and subsidized electricity and fuelwood used in inefficient technologies with high energy consumption. The situation is an outcome of trends that are characteristic of the post-socialist period, resulting in high unemployment and poverty rates. The policies with relevance to energy poverty in the country do not adequately address the issue. Energy poor households have developed coping strategies to deal with their limited financial situation. This prevents development of other supply options or infrastructures. For households, the cheapest heating method is fuelwood, which causes high levels of air pollution. Finally, a transition to market prices and to low-carbon energy in future energy transitions increases the risk of a further worsening of the situation in terms of energy poverty. Therefore, the country might be durably trapped in energy poverty.
