How does regional technological innovation affect energy poverty? The role of industrial structure distortion

China still faces relatively serious energy poverty, and technological innovation is considered effective at alleviating this issue. This paper empirically investigates the impact of regional technological innovation on energy poverty based on panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2001 to 2020. This paper explores the effect of industrial structure distortion in the process of technological innovation on energy poverty. This paper conducts asymmetry analysis and investigates the heterogeneous impact of technological innovation on energy poverty in different areas. The research conclusions are as follows: (1) Regional technological innovation can effectively alleviate energy poverty. (2) Industrial structure distortion moderates the impact of technological innovation on energy poverty, and it weakens the effect of technological innovation in alleviating energy poverty, although the moderating effect is not significant in coal-producing regions. (3) The effect of technological innovation on alleviating energy poverty is more obvious in regions where energy poverty is prominent. (4) The role of technological innovation in alleviating energy poverty shows spatial heterogeneity, and this alleviation effect is more obvious in the western and non-coal producing regions. We also propose several policy implications for alleviating energy poverty.