US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated that 17 million households received an energy disconnect/delivery stop notice and 25 million households had to forgo food and medicine to pay energy bills
Energy poverty is not being able to afford adequate warmth, cooling, lighting, or the energy to power appliances that guarantee a decent standard of living and health. One shorthand rule is that a household is energy poor if it must spend more than 10 percent of its income on power. As renewable energy mandates are rising 'ecological' taxes have driven up electricity prices, and increases in energy poverty have become a problem in a number of countries. It is estimated that 50 million European households now qualify. 1
