Advancing the Measurement of Energy Justice: The EN-CAP Scale as a Capability Approach Instrument for Multidimensional Realities

Assessing the societal implications of energy systems on a large scale remains a major conceptual and methodological challenge. Although existing measurement approaches, such as those focused on indicators like energy affordability or access, capture important aspects, they remain too narrow to capture the wider societal implications of energy systems, calling for a perspective that more fully reflects people’s lived realities and needs. This study addresses this gap by developing and validating a survey instrument - the EN-CAP Scale - based on the Capability Approach (CA), translating Nussbaum’s ten central capabilities into multidimensional energy capability measures to enable a comprehensive assessment of energy-related well-being. For this purpose, a large-scale online survey involving 30,000 respondents across Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa was conducted to evaluate the dimensionality and construct validity of the proposed measurement model. A structured, multi-step analytical procedure was employed, including an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis (MGCFA). The results support the overall validity and robustness of a six-factor model that comprehensively captures the societal implications of energy systems. This study contributes to advancing a theoretically grounded and empirically validated framework for large-scale measurement of energy-related well-being, providing a valuable tool for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in pursuit of truly just and sustainable energy transitions.