Energy poverty is defined as the lack of satisfaction of energy services essential for human life (lack of access, quantity and quality not only of energy but also of equipment), and has an impact on the level of well-being and human development of household members. Technologies play a central role in the processes of inclusion and social change. In this framework, the use of renewable energies is considered a valid tool to alleviate the situation of energy poverty and promote social inclusion. In the present work, an intervention proposal is presented to satisfy the sanitary hot water energy service in a vulnerable neighborhood of the city of Bahía Blanca. The technology to be implemented, with its benefits, the target population and the proposed methodology to carry out an impact analysis through a random experiment are detailed. In turn, the difficulties and changes implemented in the application of this technology due to the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed. In the preliminary socio-economic results, it is found that the target population shows multiple deprivations and the energy dimension is one of them. On the other hand, it is concluded that the individual strategies developed to satisfy energy needs are inefficient, polluting and irregular, while neighbors show incentives to participate in an environmentally friendly and low-cost proposal.

La pandemia ha desatado una crisis a nivel mundial. En el presente trabajo se realiza un análisis sobre las primeras consecuencias de la pandemia y el aislamiento en la población vulnerable, bajo la hipótesis de que podrían conformar un nuevo grupo de excluidos al llegar la “nueva normalidad”. Se emplea una estrategia metodológica de combinación de análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo sobre tres barrios vulnerables de Bahía Blanca. Se concluye que esta población es severamente afecta por la situación pandémica y la crisis, favoreciendo el desenlace en nuevas trayectorias de exclusión.