The Naturgy Foundation’s Energy School has trained more than 11,000 people over the last 18 months, including energy vulnerable families and staff from community sector organisations and public authorities throughout Spain. The school has offered more than 1,000 energy consultancy sessions in 10 autonomous regions of Spain.
Martí Solà, General Manager of the Naturgy Foundation, said that “the Energy School has been one of the main initiatives launched under the company’s Vulnerability Plan since it was opened in June 2017, demonstrating that we have met a need that actually existed among vulnerable families”.
“This initiative is only possible thanks to the support of others with a lot of experience in this field, such as the public authorities, and the professionals and volunteers from NGOs, such as Cruz Roja and Cáritas, as well as many other social organisations that are doing a great job throughout Spain”, said Martí Solà.
The more than 11,000 people who received this training expressed a high level of satisfaction: 9.2 out of 10. The sessions provided by the Energy School are practical and participatory. They explain the main details of energy bills, the subsidies that the most vulnerable customers might be eligible for (such as the subsidised rate) and offer advice on improving habits and being more efficient in terms of energy consumption.
The goal is to improve quality of life for vulnerable families, minimising the impact on their energy bill, helping them to reduce consumption and increasing the energy efficiency conditions of their homes.
Of all the people who have attended the training sessions at the Energy School, 400 belong to local council authorities and community sector organisations. The rest are vulnerable families.
To date, the Energy School has travelled to 325 municipalities in Andalusia, Cantabria, Catalonia, Castile-Leon, Castile-La Mancha, the Region of Valencia, Galicia, Madrid, Navarre and La Rioja.
| Number of sessions | People trained | Municipalities | ||
| Catalonia | 289 | 2894 | 78 | |
| Madrid | 151 | 2350 | 33 | |
| Galicia | 197 | 1923 | 84 | |
| Valencia | 138 | 1424 | 46 | |
| Castille-Leon | 165 | 2013 | 26 | |
| Andalusia | 33 | 259 | 10 | |
| Cantabria | 1 | 10 | 1 | |
| Castile-La Mancha | 38 | 414 | 1 | |
| La Rioja | 3 | 41 | 1 | |
| Navarre | 7 | 70 | 2 | |
| TOTAL | 1022 | 11.398 | 325 | |
The Naturgy Foundation offers this type of training for free to all public authorities and organisations that demonstrate a need of this nature in their daily work with vulnerable families. The sessions can be requested via the foundation’s website (fundacionnaturgy.org) or by sending an email to escuelaenergia@naturgy.com.
Energy Vulnerability Plan
The Naturgy Energy Vulnerability Plan is the first to be developed by a Spanish power company and was launched in 2017. The programme contains over 20 operational and social measures aimed at strengthening and systematising the management of vulnerable customers, and enhancing collaboration with third sector entities and communication with social services.
Naturgy Foundation
Set up by the power company in 1992, the Naturgy Foundation seeks to educate, train, inform and raise awareness throughout society of energy and environmental issues. It also develops social action programmes both nationally and internationally, by influencing particular initiatives aimed at alleviating energy vulnerability. In terms of culture, it promotes initiatives geared towards both preserving and communicating the historical heritage of the gas and electricity sector.
