Redefining fuel poverty: Introducing the temporal equity framework (TEF)

The definition and quantification of fuel (or energy) poverty remain contentious, particularly within the English policy landscape. The current official definition—Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE)—systematically underestimates the condition in low- and middle-income households, effectively obfuscating changing energy affordability norms. This paper presents a sensitivity analysis of fuel poverty trajectories in Nottingham, UK, across competing definitions and diverging ‘optimistic’ (domestic efficiency upgrades) and ‘pessimistic’ (energy price inflation) scenarios. Results demonstrate that LILEE overstates the efficacy of efficiency upgrades while failing to adequately reflect the impact of price shocks. To address these deficiencies, we propose the Temporal Equity Framework (TEF), a budget standard-based approach paired with a proportional energy expenditure indicator that captures shifting affordability norms more equitably. The TEF also introduces continuous expenditure-based depth indicators to evaluate the entrenchment of fuel-poor households (the ‘fuel poverty gap’) and the resilience of non-fuel-poor households (the ‘fuel poverty buffer’). We argue that responsive definitions which also recognise fuel poverty as a continuum of vulnerability, rather than a static, dichotomous state, are paramount to ensuring the equitability of energy transitions. Further, we suggest that the early identification of fuel poverty and spatial targeting of remedial resources could be markedly improved by adopting the TEF. We conclude that the adoption of a multidimensional budget standard-based definition is essential to facilitate a more accurate and just evaluation of energy transitions in England.