Effect of Energy Poverty Alleviation on High-Quality Economic Development: An Empirical Study Based on China

High-quality development (HQD) has been listed as the first and foremost task in building a modern socialist country in all respects and also an overarching issue of China’s economic and social development in the new era. To achieve economic HQD, a key approach lies in integrating energy development with poverty alleviation and fully leveraging the foundational role of energy infrastructure and supply services in reducing poverty. Using the provincial panel data from 2007 to 2017, this paper analyzes the impact of energy poverty alleviation on economic HQD from multiple dimensions in an empirical way and draws the following conclusions: first, energy poverty alleviation drives the economic growth of China’s eastern region and western region, but it cannot effectively promote the synchronous economic growth of the central region, thereby resulting in a greater imbalance in regional development; second, energy poverty alleviation has an effect on reducing the urban–rural income inequality, and such an effect is more significant in the western region; and finally, energy poverty alleviation has a significant effect on promoting economic HQD, and the effect is more significant in the central region and the western region. Furthermore, the transmission mechanism of energy poverty alleviation driving HQD is tested. It is found that energy poverty alleviation can drive HQD by promoting urbanization and technological progress.