In May 2022, the municipality of Hilversum adopted the energy poverty action plan. Of the 5000 households within the target group, we have helped 1200 households to reduce their energy bills to a high degree of satisfaction. They received advice from energy handymen about energy-efficient behavior and the energy handyman installed free energy-saving measures such as draft strips, radiator foil, LED lamps, water-saving shower heads, radiator fans and thick draft curtains.
Intensify
Although we have reached a considerable number of residents, we note that there are still residents who have a structurally higher energy bill that can be reduced. That is why we want to help 2024 households annually in 2025 and 1000 to reduce their energy bills and make their homes more sustainable. Reaching these households requires more effort. For this reason, we are adjusting parts of the approach.
• We will inform residents even more personally about the approach through closer collaboration with the social partners who are in contact with them. Energy handymen participate in activities in community centers and Social Square consultants actively include this in the conversations they have.
• We offer homeowners more customization when taking insulating measures by increasing the maximum subsidy amount from €5.000 to €7.000 per household and making it possible to take multiple energy-saving measures.
• The subsidy scheme will be expanded with the insulation guarantee fund to give residents more certainty about the savings they will achieve with the measures taken.
• As an experiment, we offer job seekers who are at a distance from the labor market the opportunity to work as an energy handyman or as a key figure. The last function is new within the approach. The key figure is a socially involved person with access to formal and informal networks within neighborhoods. This allows them to reach residents and encourage them to register for support.
Structural approach after 2025
Due to the high energy rates and the ongoing energy transition, energy poverty is a structural problem that requires a structural and stimulating approach. We will not have reached the entire target group after 2025. In addition, new households will face energy poverty as long as the energy transition is not yet completed. For this reason, we are investigating whether we can develop a long-term strategy to continue to support residents in reducing their energy bills after 2025. The realization of a structural approach partly depends on the possibility of achieving a more structural deployment of energy handymen.