While Czech coal mining regions supply heat and electricity to the whole country, local people are often unable to afford heating their own homes, researchers say. More broadly, Czechia is struggling to meet its EU reporting obligations on energy poverty, an issue common to other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. About 14% of households in the Ústecký region – one of Czechia’s three coal mining regions – face problems paying their heating bills, according to research by the Prague University of Economics and Businesses (VŠE). The second most affected region is Moravskoslezský kraj, another Czech coal-mining region, found the study, published in May 2019.