The Greek Crisis and its effects on energy poverty ! ! ! Saska - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Greek Crisis and its effects on energy poverty ! ! ! Saska Petrova University of Manchester Acknowledgments to Alexandra Prodromidou, City College, Thessaloniki

Recent Papers Petrova, S., Torres Garcia, M., Bouzarovski, S. (2016) "Using action research to enhance learning on end-use energy demand: lessons from reflective practice." Environmental Education Research. Bouzarovski, S, and Petrova, S. (2015) "A global perspective on domestic energy deprivation: Overcoming the energy poverty-fuel poverty binary." Energy Research & Social Science 10: 31-40. Bouzarovski, S, Tirado Herrero, S, Petrova, S , and Urge-Vorsatz, D.(2015) "Unpacking the spaces and politics of energy poverty: path-dependencies, deprivation and fuel switching in post- communist Hungary." Local Environment (2015). Petrova, S . (2014) "Contesting forest neoliberalization: Recombinant geographies of 'illegal' logging in the Balkans." Geoforum 55(2014) : 13-21. Petrova S , Posova D, Sykora L, House A. (2013) "Discursive Framings of Low Carbon Urban Transitions: The Contested Geographies of 'Satellite Settlements' in the Czech Republic." Urban Studies 50, no. 7(2013) : 1439-1455. Petrova, S , Gentile, M, Makinen, IH, Bouzarovski, S. (2013) "Perceptions of thermal comfort and housing quality: exploring the microgeographies of energy poverty in Stakhanov, Ukraine." Environment and Planning A 45, no. 5(2013) : 1240-1257

Ongoing Projects EVALUATE : Energy Vulnerability and Urban Transitions in Europe ( 2013-2018 ), funded by the European Research Council - scrutinises the manner in which urban institutional structures, built tissues and everyday practices shape energy vulnerability at a variety of geographical scales. DOMESTIC NEXUS: Unpacking the interconnectivity of energy and water demand ( 2016 ), funded by the University of Manchester Humanities Strategic Investment Research Fund - explores the everyday consumption of energy and water in the context of urban, peri-urban and rural transformations in post-socialist countries with fast increasing economies. SA-URBATRANS: Urban Transformation in South Africa Through Co- Designing Energy Services Provision Pathways ( 2016-2019 ), funded by ESRC-NRF - investigates the dynamics and co-evolution of municipal processes so as to create pathways to new, greener and fairer urban energy configurations. The project establishes a dialogue between work on socio- technical transitions and on energy geographies to analyse and identify energy transition pathways towards municipal-scale energy services regimes. !

Situating energy poverty (1) Understood as the inability of households to secure socially- and materially- • necessitated levels of energy services in the home. Energy poverty has traditionally been conceptualized within the triad of energy • prices, incomes and energy efficiency, and mostly in relation to domestic heating (Bouzarovski and Petrova 2015). Focused on a set of relatively well-defined groups: pensioners, low-income families • with children, people with long-term illnesses (Liddell 2012). ‘Non-traditional’ social formations have generally been excluded from relevant • debates. Economic pressures created by the crisis have particularly affected the ‘non- • traditional’ groups !!

Primary Indirect energy services renewables Space heating Mechanical Water heating power Space cooling Solid fuels, derivatives Refrigeration Liquid fuels, Household Conversion to System of Cooking demand derivatives ‘useful’ energy provision Drying Natural gas, derivatives Lighting Electric Appliances power IT Secondary heat Carriers Services

Energy services and needs (1) • ‘Benefits that energy carriers produce for human well being’ (Modi et al. 2005) • People do not demand kWhs but a warm and well-lit home (Haas et al 2008) • Conventional metrics do not capture the satisfaction received by the final user (Petrova et al 2013)

Energy services and needs (2) • A single energy carrier can offer multiple energy services • One type of energy service may be provided by different carriers, and even non-energy services • Services represent hybrid assemblages (Harrison and Popke 2011) of social and technical networks across multiple scales • Services satisfy needs, which are at the core of human functionings

Vulnerability factors Access: Poor availability of energy carriers appropriate to meet household needs (e.g. underdeveloped gas networks) Affordability : High ratio between cost of fuels and household incomes, including role of tax systems or assistance schemes Flexibility : Inability to switch among different carriers so as to respond to household needs or other constraints Efficiency : Disproportionately high loss of useful energy during energy conversions in the home Needs : Mismatch between household energy requirements and available energy services; for social, cultural, economic or health reasons Practices : Normativities and routines surrounding lighting in the home

Indirect energy services Primary renewables Space heating Mechanical Water heating power Space cooling Solid fuels, derivatives Refrigeration Liquid fuels, Household Conversion to System of Cooking demand derivatives ‘useful’ energy provision Drying Natural gas, derivatives Lighting Electric Appliances power IT Secondary heat Access Efficiency Needs Carriers Services Affordability Flexibility Practices

Starting points (1) • A wealth of academic studies on the economic and financial aspects of the crisis (Gialis and Leontidou, 2014; Knight, 2013; Mavroudeas, 2014; Mylonas, 2014) and the development of political resistance (Dalakoglou and Kallianos, 2014; Douzinas, 2013) • Rationalist and positivist approaches - a dominant means of exploration and interpretation of the economic crisis • A picture explained via statistical and mathematical models using hard data (Papagaroufali, 2011). • Such approaches do not capture people’s lived experiences and coping strategies in periods of crisis Georgakopoulou (2014)

Average!annual!household!oil!and!fuel! expenditure!in!Greece! Source: Based on Eurostat

Lack of academic research focusing on the micro- perspectives of the crisis, which explores what has been happening in the homes and communities of ordinary people in Greece (Kaika, 2012; Rakopoulos, 2014)

The ‘new urban poor’ or ‘nouveau poor’ ‘A group of people who belonged, until recently, to the middle classes, but were spitted out from these ranks as they lost their jobs, took massive cuts in their salaries or pensions, or had their homes repossessed.’ (Kaika 2012, p. 423) The challenges faced by this new social class are not created by the ‘abstract crisis’ (Rakopoulos 2014) but by the imposed austerity regime (Stuckler and Basu 2013)

Starting points (2) • Energy poverty is one of the lesser- publicized dimensions of the crisis • Poorly-insulated homes • Built, institutional and/or ownership arrangements that do not allow for improving the efficiency of the housing stock, or switching towards more affordable fuels (Katsoulakos, 2011; Santamouris et al., 2014, 2013, 2007) • Electricity cuts and blackouts

Energy poverty: identification and regulation • Social tariffs provided by the Public Power Corporation (PPC): about 40% discount; 7% of the customers eligible to use them • The ‘ Energy saving in the home ’ campaign - to raise awareness about energy efficiency in the residential sector; lower income households could receive up to 70% subsidy for the interventions in their home • Heating oil allowance : based on technical and financial criteria

Defining energy vulnerability in Greece Vulnerable households : - Households with annual, family income up to 12,000 € - People being unemployed more than 6 months (whose family income is less than 12,000 € ) - People with chronicle illnesses; - Disabled people (67% disability; total family income lower than 23,500 € ; total annual electricity consumption less than 6,800 kWh) - Older people (over 70 years old) - Families with more than three children (total family income lower than 23,500 € ; total annual electricity consumption less than 6,800 kWh) Benefits: • Longer deadlines for paying their electricity bills (at least 40 days) • Favourable conditions for settling up arrears in electricity bills • Suspension of supply cut-offs • Reduced electricity charges

Case study: Thessaloniki, Greece

Why Thessaloniki?

Relatively colder winter temperatures compared to other major urban areas in the country

The resilient city: evidence of diverse economies

Arguments and research questions The dismantling of traditional forms of energy provision (Nye 1996) as a • result of austerity policies opens the space for non-market and informal economic strategies (Gibson-Graham 1996) (Re)emergence of a communal ethos and various neighbourhood • ‘experiments’ (Anastasopoulos 2013) ! ! How are experiences of energy poverty in Greece are underpinned by the social and spatial • infrastructures of everyday life? Which are the everyday strategies and tactics developed to combat and overcome the state • of being vulnerable? How have the economic crisis and austerity regime affected energy poverty? • !