In this article, we evaluate the losses suffered by people living in urban areas due to energy services. In the first part we analyze how, by adopting different information foci, we obtain contrasting interpersonal evaluations of the same loss. In the second part, we distinguish between a diachronic threshold and a hypothetical harm threshold to assess whether people benefit from or are harmed by a given energy service. The most accurate assessment of individual harm caused by an energy service can be achieved by using capabilities as the information focus, rather than achieved well-being or means to well-being, and interpreting the loss in relation to a hypothetical threshold that corresponds to a list of fundamental capabilities. In the last part, we discuss monetary and non-monetary compensation for a loss that is evaluated in terms of capacity. Accordingly, we explain how compensation policies can either restore capabilities lost due to energy services or monetarily compensate the individual for the fact that a given capability (or set of capabilities) has been irretrievably lost.