An Energy Poverty Case Study: A Whole Systems Perspective Applied to an Informal Settlement Perpetua I Okoye Department of Engineering and Technology Management, University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa pokoye04@gmail.com Jörg Lalk Department of Engineering and Technology Management, University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa jorg.lalk@up.ac.za Copyright © 2020 by Perpetua I Okoye and Jörg Lalk. Permission granted to INCOSE to publish and use. Abstract. This paper describes the novel application of a systems approach within the context of energy poverty mitigation. This is enriched by using an informal human settlement situated in the Western Cape near Cape Town as case study. A systems approach is used to design and integrate system interfaces within an “energy poverty system” leading to a proposed new System Rein- forcing Model (SRM) for Energy Access Sustainability (EAS) in energy-poor communities. The proposed model identifies interrelated systems and elements, developed as design decisions and system designs grounded in energy-use patterns and behavior, energy access options, sustainabil- ity, socio-economic, cultural, technical, and environmental issues. The proposed new SRM is then applied to a typical energy-poor community where the model’s significance is effectively demonstrated. Based on its participatory sensitivity, the model reveals system parts instigating energy poverty and limiting energy access. Introduction Typically, energy poverty is described as a lack of access to modern energy services in ener- gy-poor households in developing countries (Sadath & Acharya 2017; McCollum et al. 2017; van Vuuren et al. 2017; M. Balmer 2017). But, energy poverty is beyond a lack of access or income poverty in households. One of the factors promoting energy poverty comes from socio-cultural environments that are likely to shape energy-use patterns and behaviour in households. According to Mehlwana (1997), the situational analysis of these patterns and behaviour requires assessments of multiple socio-cultural dimensions influencing energy poverty in energy-poor groups. As a result, mitigating energy poverty cannot employ just technical indexes and algorithms but should extensively consider socio-cultural circumstances defining an energy-poor group. We understand that energy access sustainability can avert the energy poverty impact that may compromise the needs of future generations. The United Nations reported key elements of sus- tainability, such as environmental protection, economic, and social developments, as being syn- ergetic and mutually exclusive elements (Tejeda & Ferreira 2014). Alternatively, energy poverty has multiple elements influencing its persistence in energy-poor households (Stephenson et al., 2010). Likewise, energy access has various elements that improve cleaner energy use (Shrestha and Acharya, 2015). The design synthesis of these elements by employing a systems approach such as Systems Engineering (SE) with Systems Thinking (SsT) can provide a roadmap to miti- gating energy poverty and improving Energy Access Sustainability (EAS).