According to the European Commission, between 8% and 16% — that is 35 to 72 million people — of the EU population face energy poverty, yet many One-Stop Shops struggle to reach the households most in need. This Learning Lab brought together practitioners to explore how OSS can be redesigned to serve vulnerable households effectively. Across two sessions, participants heard from experts across four countries and explored practical approaches to outreach, trust-building, and financing. Key lesson: reaching energy-poor households requires more than technical advice — it demands accessible services, trusted intermediaries, and financial models that remove upfront barriers.

Session 1: Understanding Energy Poverty and Planning Renovation Roadmaps (24 March 2026)

Speakers: Kristina Eisfeld (Climate Alliance / EPAH) and Christos Tourkolias (CRES, Greece)

Kristina Eisfeld opened with a comprehensive overview of energy poverty as a multidimensional challenge, shaped not only by income, but also by building quality, location, tenure, and institutional barriers. She outlined how energy poverty is now embedded across EU policy, including the revised Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which requires Member States to establish One-Stop Shops at minimum one per 80,000 inhabitants, with attention to vulnerable households. However, she warned that if OSS are designed as purely technical advisory centres, they risk excluding the energy poor. She presented four success factors for inclusive OSS: targeting (actively reaching those most in need), accessibility (services available physically and digitally, close to people), time (simple processes with ongoing support), and trust (working through trusted intermediaries like social workers and NGOs). She also introduced EPAH resources including the handbook trilogy covering diagnosis, planning, and implementation, plus the technical assistance programme open for applications until 31 March 2026.

Christos Tourkolias presented the REVERTER project methodology for developing tailored renovation roadmaps for vulnerable households. The approach follows clear steps: first, specify objectives; then undertake preparatory actions including analysing the legislative framework, identifying key stakeholders, understanding local energy poverty levels, analysing building stock, and targeting the worst-performing buildings and lowest-income households. A key tool is the PESTEL analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal) to identify and address barriers systematically. For financing, he emphasised that priority can be given to subsidies but additional measures may be needed — including targeted tax deductions, guarantee schemes, credit lines, and soft-interest loans — when subsidies alone are insufficient.

Session 2: Practical Solutions — Outreach and Financing (25 March 2026)

Speakers: Maria José Ruiz (Barcelona City Council) and Vytautas Navickas (Lithuania)

Maria José Ruiz presented Barcelona's Energy Advisory Points (Punts d'Assessorament Energètic), a network of 13 offices with 35 professionals. In 2025, the service attended 16,178 households (44,560 people), processed 839 basic supply reconnections and issued 9,790 vulnerability reports. 75% of households served meet at least one of the three energy poverty indicators. The service focuses on detection and support: bill analysis, social tariff access, disconnection prevention, and emergency reconnections within a maximum of 24 hours. A distinctive feature is the peer-to-peer employment model — one of three working axes — which trains people from long-term unemployment to conduct home visits. User data shows 66% are women, 44% have children, and the typical profile is a woman born in Spain, unemployed, with dependent children. The three axes are: guarantee of rights and energy efficiency improvement, promotion of employment and employability, and prevention and community action. Key insight: it was an interesting approach for One-Stop Shops to replicate in their own systems — reaching vulnerable households by meeting people where they are through home visits and trusted local presence.

Vytautas Navickas explained Lithuania's OSS model where municipal administrators handle the entire renovation process on behalf of residents, including submitting applications for state subsidies and state-guaranteed loans. The process requires 50%+1 approval from apartment owners, after which the OSS coordinates everything from investment plans to construction supervision. Financing comes through state-guaranteed loans from the National Development Bank (ILTE) at 3% fixed annual interest for 20 years. Crucially, for households receiving heating compensation, the state pays the renovation costs through municipal social benefit allocations — effectively meaning these vulnerable households pay nothing. If a renovated apartment is sold, the loan transfers to the new owner. Lithuania has renovated 4,477 multi-apartment buildings (15.4% of stock), with resort municipalities leading: Birštonas at 64.8%, Palanga at 54.7%, Druskininkai at 44.3%. Key success factors include strong community involvement and municipal engagement.

Conclusions from the Learning Lab

The sessions revealed a clear pathway for making One-Stop Shops more inclusive:

1. Outreach matters as much as technical quality. Barcelona's peer workers and home visits demonstrate how to build trust and reach hidden energy poverty. It also shows that OSS and energy poverty services are complementary — linking these pathways is essential.

2. Financial design determines who benefits. Lithuania's model shows that state-guaranteed loans combined with social benefit coverage can remove all upfront barriers for vulnerable households.

3. The 'worst first' principle needs data and stakeholders. REVERTER's methodology shows that effective targeting requires understanding your building stock, mapping energy poverty, and engaging the right partners through PESTEL analysis.

4. Trust is non-negotiable. Whether through peer workers, social services, or local NGOs, vulnerable households engage when they trust who is helping them.

Contact: Ifrah Shaukat, i.shaukat@climatealliance.org