Paper short abstract:

We studied energy poverty (EP) in Mexico with a novel multidimensional approach. We implemented a household survey in two major cities. The results reveal that there is EP in the affordability subdimension and a significant degree of susceptibility in other subdimensions. We provide policy insights.

Paper long abstract:

Energy poverty (EP) is a significant challenge for achieving climate commitments and sustainable development with social justice. It can affect households across the world, regardless of the development level of their respective countries. Most research has focused on countries at the extreme of the development spectrum, while middle-income countries have been less studied as in the case of Mexico. The current approach to measuring EP in the country relies on the access perspective, which cannot capture the diversity of most urban households. In this paper, we studied EP in Mexico. To do so, we developed a novel multidimensional approach, which assembles advances in EP research, ecosystem resilience modeling, and primary data collection. This approach leads to a composite index that describes EP regarding three dimensions and 10 subdimensions. Based on the proposed approach, we designed and implemented a study in two major cities. This study consisted of an in-person household survey, which collected data from 480 households. The results reveal that these households experience EP in the affordability subdimension as they pay a large share of their income in energy and face expensive energy supply services (though with relatively good quality). Moreover, the results show a significant degree of susceptibility regarding the consumption and perception dimensions that, despite not leading to EP, could have a negative impact for achieving sustainable development. Finally, the study provides insights into the peculiarities of the EP phenomenon in urban populations in middle-income countries and could help design public policy against this problem.