Funded Energy Redress Projects

This project will work with three Hebridean island communities to establish innovative community-led local energy markets (LEMs) to tackle fuel poverty. 

LEMs have been successful elsewhere in the UK at tackling fuel poverty through reducing energy costs for local households. Despite significant interest from Scottish island and rural communities in LEMs, there are area-specific barriers to these, including limited access to smart meter installers, high travel costs, challenges with smart meter communications and local grid congestion. This project aims to address these barriers.

They will establish demonstrator LEMs in Raasay, Tiree and Barra & Vatersay. These will be “Energy Local Clubs” - a community-driven initiative that allows households and businesses to buy locally generated renewable energy at affordable rates. 

The team will resolve smart meter installation and operational challenges and train local installers. This will target off-gas grid areas reliant on storage heaters enabling them to access innovative tariffs to mitigate impacts of Radio Teleswitch (RTS) removal. 

They will also trial smart controlled heat pumps to enable households to access green heat at more affordable prices and collaborate with Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) to explore how LEMs can alleviate known network constraints and enable renewable energy connections. This will provide a route to market for future community-owned renewable energy generation. 

The project aims to create and maintain a legacy knowledge-sharing and capacity-building network for rural and island communities looking to establish LEMs in their area. 

This project aims to tackle fuel poverty and energy-related hardship across West Dunbartonshire by providing trusted, practical energy advice and advocacy to energy consumers in vulnerable situations.

Support will be available across all housing tenures and accessed through a wide network of local referral partners, ensuring they reach those most at risk of being overlooked, and that the service complements, rather than duplicates, existing provision.

Three experienced Energy Advisers will deliver tailored support to 1,000 households through 650 home visits, 45 community drop-ins, and remote appointments. They will also aim to resolve at least 300 cases of energy debt or disconnection risk. 

Home visits enable a person-centred approach and allow the team to observe how energy efficient a home is and where savings can be made. They will: explain bills and metering; optimise heating controls; support tariff queries; register customers on Priority Services Registers; negotiate with suppliers to resolve billing issues and reduce debt; secure hardship assistance where eligible; and provide practical tips and small, low-cost measures to help residents keep warm for less.  Outcomes will include lower energy costs, improved comfort and health, and stronger tenancy sustainability.   

Building on the successful delivery of a previously funded project, they aim to prepare the community for a more sustainable, affordable future, by providing expert energy advice. The project will primarily focus on local high schools, especially school leavers, to equip them with the skills to manage energy costs, live sustainably, and avoid debt when moving into their first homes. 

Based at the Shettleston Hub and Tollcross Advice and Learning Centre, they provide free, practical energy advice. Working closely with housing associations and community services to reach low and no-income households, offering one-to-one support, home visits, and community events.

Their energy advisor supports residents to cut costs, use energy efficiently, and communicate with suppliers. They also supply energy-saving equipment where needed and connect people with further support. Alongside partnering with a digital inclusion project to ensure people can manage accounts online and take control of bills.    

NookCRM (https://nookcrm.com/) is an open-source case management system developed by Outlandish for community energy groups. Eleven organisations currently use it for energy advice and fuel poverty work. 

The private rented sector (PRS) faces major retrofit challenges: 55% of PRS homes are below EPC C and 24% are fuel poor. With tighter Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards due by 2030, pressures on landlords, tenants and delivery stakeholders will intensify. Billions invested through ECO4 and GBIS risk under-delivery, slowed by multi-party consents (landlords, tenants, freeholders), low trust and fragmented communication. Currently no shared digital tool exists to coordinate this complexity, posing a major barrier for community energy groups delivering retrofit schemes. 

This project will enhance Nook to create the first open-source energy advice and PRS-capable retrofit CRM, enabling groups to deliver faster, fairer, more trusted retrofits for households in vulnerable situations. 

In partnership with Repowering London, Retrofit West and BHESCo they will co-design and pilot key innovations for PRS retrofit case management, supplier and installer management, and support for owner-occupied and advice-to-retrofit work. Repowering London will pilot the system in Newham, which has London’s highest PRS concentration, leveraging their council partnership. Functionality will also be available nationwide, maximising reach and impact. 

By working openly - sharing code and learning - this project positions NookCRM to become the trusted platform for community-led retrofit.

The project aims to empower vulnerable residents in East Middlesbrough by addressing significant energy inefficiencies in homes across the community. Creating a lasting impact on household comfort, financial resilience, and overall community wellbeing.

They will utilise innovative thermal imaging technology to identify heat loss, insulation gaps, draughts, cold spots, condensation, and ventilation issues within homes. By initially mapping a selection of representative houses from the three predominant housing types within the community, they will rapidly generate a scalable blueprint of practical, cost-effective solutions suitable for wider implementation.

The project will deliver direct interventions, such as draught excluders, insulation enhancements, and ventilation improvements, providing tangible, immediate benefits to residents. Alongside these measures, they will run tailored community workshops and home visits to offer targeted, practical advice and education, empowering residents to sustainably reduce their energy costs and improve their living conditions.

This project will expand capacity for a well-established and trusted energy advice service providing essential support to residents who are struggling with energy-related issues. The team of advisors support households to resolve meter problems, access financial support, and use energy more efficiently. Their work has significant financial impact for the communities they serve from their high street shop with pre-booked appointments, others with urgent emergencies, and many seeking quick advice. 

Govanhill’s housing stock is old and draughty, leading to high heating costs, with renting causing recurring problems for tenants. The project will support households facing additional vulnerabilities, such as limited English, poor health, or young children. To meet these challenges, South Seeds has strengthened their partnership with the local housing association, now working from their base two days a week to engage directly with tenants disconnected from gas.

This project will accelerate the growth of the UK community energy sector by developing an open-source suite of digital tools that streamline operations, reduce administrative burden, and strengthen community engagement. 

Community energy is recognised by government as a vital driver of clean energy supply and reduced household bills, with the Community Energy Strategy forecasting capacity to supply energy to over one million homes. Realising this potential will require new forms of sector-wide infrastructure and support. Repowering London and Sharenergy, two of the UK’s most experienced community energy support organisations, are co-developing a fundraising and membership platform, a solar billing operations platform, and education and engagement dashboards. 

Early prototypes are now at minimum viable product stage, and this funding will support advancing them to minimum lovable product: robust, user-friendly, and resilient systems no longer reliant on frequent technical input. All modules will be released under an open-source licence, ensuring they are free and adaptable across the sector. 

Alongside technical development, the team will deliver training, sector engagement, and piloted workshops in schools and community sites, creating pathways for wider participation and learning. By combining efficiency, open access, and education, Community Current will help community energy groups scale, empower communities, and deliver affordable, clean, community-owned energy across the UK.

This project is a targeted initiative to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency for older people in Gwynedd, Anglesey, and Conwy. Many of whom live alone, on low incomes, or in rural off-gas areas—facing high energy costs, cold homes, and barriers to accessing help.  

Through bilingual home visits, community outreach, and telephone support, trained Energy Advisors will provide personalised guidance on energy use, bill management, and access to grants and supplier schemes. They will also install simple, effective measures such as LED bulbs, draught excluders, and radiator reflectors to deliver immediate warmth and savings.  

A network of locally recruited Community Energy Champions—older volunteers trained in basic energy advice—will extend their reach and provide peer-to-peer support, increasing trust and engagement in harder-to-reach communities.  

Over the project’s lifetime, they aim to directly support at least 500 older people, help 150 to secure financial support, and distribute over 1,000 energy-saving items. This will lead to measurable reductions in fuel bills, improved home comfort, and increased confidence in managing energy use.  

By combining practical help, personalised advice, and a bilingual, community-led approach, the project will deliver lasting benefits for individuals and create a model that can be replicated in other rural, ageing communities across Wales  

They aim to reduce fuel poverty, change energy-related behaviours and improve energy efficiency in Sunderland’s coldest and poorest homes, by delivering targeted energy-saving advice and support to 2,500 residents. The project will work within high-risk, deprived areas, with limited access to specialised services and fill critical gaps in local energy advice and fuel poverty support.

The team will provide households with immediate one-to-one energy saving advice and support, alongside advocacy necessary to overcome acute difficulties with energy bills, longer-term resilience to withstand ongoing pressures to pay energy bills and additional support for people with more complex needs. 

Advice will be provided from the organisation's centre, and via outreach activity at local foodbanks and the Sunderland Bangladesh International Centre.

They will also develop robust referral pathways to support vulnerable clients via the provision of energy advice, fuel poverty advice, access to free energy efficiency measures, and crisis support.