The phrase ‘fuel poverty’ has a long accepted definition in terms of the ability to achieve adequate energy services in the home at an affordable cost. This labels a household as ‘fuel poor’ if it needs 10% or more of its income to be spent on all household fuel use to main adequate temperatures. However it is also a term used more loosely to describe a situation where households cannot afford to keep their homes adequately warm.
In the thesis I will problematise 'fuel poverty' through its representations in:
- National definitions
- The work of local organisations
- The everyday narratives of households
This addresses the problem of existing disparate understandings of what it means to live with fuel poverty, examining the connections and disconnections between policy and action at various scales.