Policy Frameworks for Energy Transition in England: Challenges in a Former Industrial City

This paper addresses the make-up and the limitations of a multi-level governance approach in tackling issues of fuel poverty and energy transition connected to poverty in England. Although the English planning framework offers unparalleled opportunities for innovative governance arrangements, and although much has been done in this area by national and local authorities, there are important limitations to how English cities are tackling fuel poverty and energy transition in a context of energy transition coupled with deprivation. The case analysed is an archetypical formerly industrial city dealing with socio-economic and spatial regeneration issues and transferable lessons can be learned. The questions addressed in this paper are: How does a former industrial city in Northwestern Europe deal with energy transition in the face of relatively high levels of deprivation? What is the governance of energy transition in the case and how does it help deprived citizens achieve energy security, if at all? This paper relies on extensive fieldwork research, interviews with several stakeholders and policy analysis carried out for the 7th Framework PLEEC Project (Planning for Energy Efficient Cities). Preliminary conclusions point at the failing of governance arrangements to include vulnerable actors and the inadequacy of solutions found for deprived or vulnerable households in the renting sector.