Funded Energy Redress Projects

Despite huge interest, ‘Able to pay’ householders in the UK are failing to benefit from effective retrofit services, denying them the benefits of retrofit including carbon reductions, comfort and cost savings. An increasing number of community-led organisations have an ambition to meet these consumers’ needs by delivering fee earning retrofit services and adopting associated business models. 

Recent research carried out by Centre for Sustainable Energy for Access Foundation demonstrates the scale of interest from the community-retrofit sector and sets out the range of challenges they face including lack of capacity, trained staff, and access to appropriate technical support and tools. 

Using a Community of Practice approach, the project will work with a collection of growing community retrofit services around the UK, all at different levels of maturity and development, but all on the ground and delivering retrofit services now, to assist their growth. 

They will help scale these aspiring Community Retrofit services, assisting the transfer of knowledge and expertise and accelerating the growth and maturity of their work whilst growing the sector more broadly and benefitting householders by increasing access to retrofit services. 

The project aims to deliver high quality energy advice to vulnerable older people living in Scarborough and Ryedale in, or at risk of, fuel poverty. They will work closely with local authorities, voluntary and health sectors, housing providers and statutory services to reach over 1,500 households.

The project will include a Warm Room provision; a space for people to stay warm during colder months thus reducing home energy costs, at three locations. Energy advice will be delivered through a combination of home-visits and at their office locations, advice will include: maximising income; dealing with fuel debt; getting better deals when market conditions allow; resolving disputes; referrals to energy efficiency programmes; priority services registration; support to reduce energy usage.

They will also create an Energy Hub to coordinate activity and knowledge share with other local organisations.

The project aims to reduce vulnerable householders bills, whilst maximising their income, and providing them with the lifelong skills to manage their energy consumption, through information events and casework level advice.

Project activities will include information sharing events held in the community i.e market stalls, library events to discuss reducing energy costs within the home.  Casework support will focus on improving energy knowledge, whilst empowering participants to make changes within the home to reduce their energy consumption.  The result of which will save them money whilst reducing their carbon footprint. 

Vulnerable households will be provided with winter warmth packs which will include practical items such as information about money management and crisis prevention, energy saving light bulbs, thermometers and other useful items to keep warm.

Energy appointments will be tailored to the individuals needs and explore; tariffs, bills and fuel options, switching energy suppliers, energy efficiency measures, and identifying available grants.

The project will address immediate needs of vulnerable energy customers through high quality energy advice, whilst supporting long-term solutions to fuel poverty by increasing engagement in retrofit programmes that will deliver warmer, more fuel-efficient homes.

This project will enable Groundwork’s Green Doctors to continue to respond to the needs of people in fuel poverty in six high need areas across England, providing in-home advice, small energy saving measures, and links to wider services. As part of the project, they will also increase their focus on retrofit opportunities, building retrofit suitability assessments into their energy advice, running awareness-raising events, and partnering with retrofit schemes to target customers who risk missing out on the benefits of warmer, more efficient homes.

They will work with vulnerable residents to understand their circumstances, co-developing tailored action plans to support their retrofit journey. This will include understanding the retrofit process and potential benefits, signposting to available schemes, support during installation, and improving capacity to optimally use new equipment/ measures. Learning will be used to encourage government and retrofit programme leads to routinely invest in inclusive, person-centred approaches, leading to more people benefitting from warmer, healthier homes.

Radio City Association (RCA) are an anchor organisation of local community wealth building activities and are constructing a community owned wind turbine in the hills above Kilbirnie with the purpose of reinvesting any surpluses achieved from the electricity generated back into the community to address the many challenges of the area of the Garnock Valley in North Ayrshire particularly the prevalence of poverty and deprivation, including fuel poverty, and build community capacity to better address educational, employment and health inequalities locally.

RCA secured capital funding from various organisations and funding streams, including the Energy Redress Scheme, to build the first 100% community-owned onshore wind turbine that will operate commercially, without the use of government price support mechanisms.

Owned solely by the community, the turbine will have the capacity to generate 7,839 MWh of clean electricity per year, the equivalent of powering 2,234 average UK homes, once operational. It will also deliver 3,324 tonnes of carbon emissions reductions annually.

The project aims to provide in depth energy saving advice to 1,775 vulnerable households to help them become more financially resilient.

The project will deliver face-to-face support to people most in need, in their communities and their homes. Support will include: comprehensive home surveys, identifying sources of heat loss, damp, leaks, and other issues impacting their home energy use, advice and practical support to switch suppliers/tariffs, alongside supplying and fitting suitable energy saving measures at no cost to them. 

They will also identify other needs that keep people in poverty and refer households to provision to help with health and wellbeing, social isolation, employment, training, financial or other support to take steps to escape financial exclusion and fuel poverty.

The project aims to support 1,500 Big Issue service users and 100 Big Issue Recruit candidates experiencing fuel poverty. Trained energy advisors will provide expert advice to service users and their families facing social and economic barriers which prevent them from accessing help from anywhere else. 

Advisors will provide information and guidance to understand energy costs, payment options and monitoring energy usage. Support service users to reduce energy consumption and take action to address the causes of dampness, insulation and other household issues which contribute to poor living conditions and energy waste. Refer service users to specialist debt and energy advice providers. Support service users to access fuel poverty alleviation, including fuel vouchers, household insulation schemes, Warm Homes Discount and energy saving products.

This project will develop Sparky, an AI-powered chatbot designed to deliver accessible and personalised energy advice through the trusted platform of Citizens Advice. Building on the success of a previously funded project (EnerGenie), Sparky will offer a user-friendly interface where individuals can access instant and reliable information on a wide range of energy-related topics. Sparky will be trained on a comprehensive knowledge base drawn from trusted sources like gov.uk, Ofgem, and Citizens Advice's own extensive resources. For general enquiries, Sparky will efficiently provide accurate and up-to-date information, empowering users to make informed decisions about their energy consumption.

Recognising that many energy-related questions require a nuanced and personalised approach, Sparky incorporates a unique human-in-the-loop feature. When a query necessitates more complex or tailored guidance, Sparky will first present the information to a trained energy adviser at Citizens Advice. Only upon the adviser's approval and potential refinement will the information be relayed to the user. This innovative approach ensures that while Sparky offers efficient self-service for general enquiries, complex cases receive the expert attention they deserve. This not only enhances the accuracy and reliability of the advice provided but also safeguards vulnerable users who may require additional support.

This project aims to significantly increase access to energy advice, promote energy efficiency, and contribute to reducing fuel poverty. By embedding Sparky within the trusted framework of Citizens Advice, they aim to create a more sustainable and equitable energy landscape where everyone can confidently navigate the complexities of the energy market and make informed choices.

Working collaboratively with charity partners and community organisations, the project aims to provide a wrap-around, capacity building, energy support service for over 10,000 vulnerable households across Shropshire, Derbyshire and Herefordshire. 

They will reach the most vulnerable by working with partners in the community; training and supporting partners to provide energy advice directly to their client group, referring to Marches Energy Agency for specialist support.

They will also provide free, expert energy advice, and practical help to vulnerable households on the phone and in person. Delivering enhanced home visits that provide engaging personal advice on energy use in the home and the home’s performance. This includes an appliance survey using their HEAT app and thermal imaging giving meaningful information to see why change is needed and where it can be made.

The project will provide information, advice, and guidance to the deaf community in Derbyshire, in British Sign Language (BSL). Through workshops, outreach events, video calls, and occasional home visits, the Derbyshire deaf community will receive key energy information in their first language. 

Topics covered will include; how to get the best energy deals, how to change your supplier or tariff, ways to save energy in the home, and accessing support such as Priority Services Register and the Warm Homes Discount  Through this project, deaf people in Derbyshire will be informed and thus empowered to save money on energy bills, understand and control their energy use, claim support they are entitled to, and therefore feel more confident and comfortable.