Energy Poverty In Bulgaria

There is no an official definition of energy poverty in the European Union. The European Commission considers a European definition unsuitable, due to the different situations of energy consumers in the member countries. As such, definitions are decided at country level. As of the end of 2015, there were only four countries in Europe with official definitions of energy poverty, according to a report of Insight_E to the Commission. Bulgaria has no definition. There is only a mechanism for protection of vulnerable consumers, which represent 7% of the population. There are over 22% of the population living under the official poverty line in 2016. Energy poverty in Bulgaria has not been estimated using any of the official definitions used in other countries so far, by none of the authoritative institutions. The only frequently cited source is this of Eurostat, stating that about 67% of the population in the country is not able to afford its basic needs of heating in 2014. This, however, is the subjective assessment of the households. The article shows objective assessment of the energy poverty using data from the Household Budget Survey of the National Statistical Institute from 2014. Results show, that there were 10% of the population being energy poor in Bulgaria using the LIHC method, about 35% of the population using the 'Poverty after fuel cost' method, 52% of the population using the 'Minimal income standard' method, and 64% using the 'Ten percent rule' method. The different methods benefit different target groups, and are influenced differently by the different factors.