Addressing Affordability of Utility Services in Urban Households: Energy Efficiency Solutions

The economic transition in the post-Soviet economies necessitates a gradual (or sometimes abrupt) ending of the heavily subsidized utility prices from the Soviet era. However, many policymakers have been reluctant to raise heating and water tariffs to cost-recovery levels due to concerns that consumers will not be able to pay increased prices. The continuation of untargeted resource subsidies perpetuates unsustainable consumption patterns and hinders any real potential for providing more effective aid to households truly in need.

With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Alliance to Save Energy conducted an extensive study that examines the potential for energy efficiency, particularly on the consumer demand side, to improve the affordability of utility services and improve the quality of life in households and communities.

The findings and recommendations of this study are based largely on the results of actual residential energy-efficiency projects that the authors documented in 26 case studies. In most of the projects examined for this study, energy-efficiency improvements helped households manage price hikes without severe effects on household welfare.

You can download in the following formats:

• Executive Summary (200 KB PDF)
• Full Report (800 KB PDF)
• Appendicies (13 MB PDF)