Not enough (yet): A capabilities assessment of the implementation of energy poverty policies in Italy

Energy-poor individuals face greater difficulty in accessing the benefits of energy transition policies. This conceptual article employs a priori analytical categories based on the Capability Approach to assess the effectiveness of energy transition policies in addressing energy poverty in the context of Italian energy transition efforts. We use the expression “effectiveness gap” to describe the discrepancy between the intention to address energy poverty through energy transition policies, the practical implementation of these plans, and their unsatisfactory results thus far. From a capabilitarian standpoint, a person's wellbeing depends on “conversion factors”. Conversion factors determine to what degree people are able to transform resources into the achievement of beings and doings (i.e. functionings). Some conversion factors are internal to a person (e.g. physical condition, gender, age) others are external such as environmental and socio-economic factors (e.g. public policies). In Italy, energy transition policies do not fully consider conversion factors of energy-poor people potentially leading to their exclusion from public incentives. We argue that Italian energy transition policies could be deemed unjust as they disregard energy-poor people's socio-economic conditions, thus failing to enable some of their functionings. We recommend developing policies that enhance energy-poor people's agency, dignity, and freedom of choice by actually allowing them to access public incentives. The main novel contribution of this article is using the Capability Approach to provide a normative perspective on energy poverty in Italy. The article aims to contribute to scholarly and policy debates as well as policy-making concerning the challenges of solving energy poverty.