£2.5million made available through Energy Redress Scheme

Charities have until November 16 to apply 

Charitable organisations across Britain are being urged to get their applications ready as £2.5 million of funding becomes available in the next round of the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme.

Energy Saving Trust, which was appointed by Ofgem to manage distribution of the funds to eligible charitable organisations, has announced that applications will be accepted from October 15.

Charities wishing to submit an application to the Energy Redress Scheme are asked to complete registrations here a full two weeks prior to the application deadline to allow for due diligence to take place.

Once the application window closes on 16 November, an announcement on successful bidders is due in the New Year.

Mike Thornton, group director of operations at Energy Saving Trust said: “This is a significant pot of money and we’re looking forward to welcoming applications from across the country that can help deliver benefits to energy consumers.

“The overarching aim of the Energy Redress Scheme is to distribute available funds to support energy consumers in vulnerable situations and the development of products or services which will provide a benefit to certain groups of energy consumers.

“The previous round of funding attracted applications that were of a very high standard, so we’re looking forward to seeing what ideas this latest round will inspire.”

Mr Thornton added: “This is a terrific opportunity for organisations to tackle issues they experience with either energy consumption, understanding or availability. This can be delivered in any number of ways, from helping vulnerable groups to developing renewable schemes or even encouraging good energy behaviours and understanding.

“This is the largest pot of money made available so far in the scheme, so we’d urge any charity that thinks it can deliver real impact for energy consumers to register and apply.”

The Energy Redress Scheme is funded by voluntary payments made by energy companies found to be in breach of Ofgem rules.

As part of the process, Energy Saving Trust is committed to measuring the impact of the funds, and will work with applicants to provide logistical and practical support where appropriate.

More than £280,000 was distributed to charities in the first round of funding, with six organisations benefiting. Successful bids included a scheme that encourages good energy behaviours through cooking, a pilot to test heating controls for the visually impaired and a project to install a district heating system.

Charitable organisations interested in accessing funding when it becomes available are asked to register in advance here.