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1. Introduction
In contemplating the launch and implementation of an Energy Union, the European Commission envisioned a regulatory framework "with citizens at its core, where citizens take ownership of the energy transition, benefit from new technologies to reduce their bills, participate actively in the market, and where vulnerable consumers are protected".1 Regarding the question of how consumers benefit from these objectives, the Commission Communication "Delivering a New Deal for Energy Consumers"2 identified a number of obstacles and highlighted areas for improvement with respect to three pillars of consumer policy. These are consumer empowerment, smart homes and networks, as well as data management and protection. Consumer empowerment poses three challenges in particular: (i) motivating consumers to increase demand-side flexibility; (ii) improving energy efficiency, while (iii) reducing energy poverty. These interlinked structural challenges are not limited to the European Union.
In the Clean Energy Package of the European Union3 the fight against energy poverty and the inclusion of low-income households (LIHs) and vulnerable consumers have a prominent place. The European legislator calls on the Member States to take action and obliges them to include these topics when transposing the legal acts of the package into national law, as we will show. They are mentioned in various places, most notably in the 2018 recast of the Renewable Energy Directive4 (RED II) and the 2019 Electricity Market Directive5 (IEMD) but also in the 2018 Energy Efficiency Directive6 (EED), or the 2018 Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings7 (EPBD). Although the political aim is clearly set, the lawmakers have refrained from specifying how to include LIH and what policies in particular to implement. These, however, are momentous questions as low income combined with the high cost of energy supply are two of the major reasons for energy poverty.8
One important means of fighting energy poverty would be to increase disposable household income. When consumers become prosumers of renewable energy (RE), they produce a part of the energy they consume, thus reducing their overall expenditure for energy, and the sale of excess production gives them a second source of income. These positive effects on disposable household income further increase when prosumership is coupled with energy efficiency (EE). Investing in RE while at the same time reducing consumption by improving EE...