Language of ‘energy poverty’ stigmatizes citizens, says new study

Policymakers are being urged to rethink the language they use to describe people struggling to pay their energy bills in new research published today. 

The paper, from the Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC) argues that terms like “the energy poor” or “the fuel poor” implicitly stigmatises people while ignoring structural problems with global energy systems.

The authors, from universities in the UK, Mexico, Hong Kong, and the US, have found popular terminology places blame on individuals rather than addressing systemic issues. They point to inadequate energy infrastructure, policy failures and socio-economic marginalisation which have left people unable to heat or cool their homes.

Lead author Professor Stefan Bouzarovski from the University of Manchester told That's Home and Household: “Language shapes how we understand societal challenges. By continuing to use victim-blaming and stigmatising terms, we risk reinforcing the very inequalities we aim to solve.”

The paper draws on a review of over 500 academic and policy sources and calls for more inclusive and participatory language.

Successful examples from New Zealand and Mexico show how involving communities and focusing on people's needs have led to better policy design.

“Researchers and policymakers are increasingly calling for energy transitions to be just and fair. Rhetoric like ‘leaving no one behind’ can come across as top down and even patronising. To be truly inclusive and create the conditions for real change, we need to move beyond labels that reduce people to their hardships, and work with communities to develop more inclusive energy policy language that reflects people’s lived experience” said Professor Mari Martiskainen of the University of Sussex, and EDRC director.

The paper encourages using language that doesn’t blame individuals for struggles like high energy bills, since these problems come from bigger social and economic issues. The authors call for processes where people, communities, scientists and policymakers develop terminology and narratives together, for example via citizens panels. The paper aims to open a discussion on what a truly people-centre energy transition would mean in both language and practice.

https://www.edrc.ac.uk/