Funded Energy Redress Projects

This innovative community energy project will develop community-led governance infrastructure in Horden, a former coalfield village in East Durham, to ensure local residents, particularly those in vulnerable situations, can shape, lead, and benefit from a range of renewable energy projects currently underway.

Opportunities include the Horden Mine Water Heat Scheme, Community Energy Fund feasibility studies (wind, solar, and anaerobic digestion), and the Energising East Durham programme. Without dedicated local governance and coordination, there is a risk that community voices will be excluded from decision-making on these projects.

The grant will fund staff time and resources to support local residents to design and establish an accessible, inclusive governance model—such as a Community Benefit Society or Trust—empowering them to act from an equitable and informed position. This body will guide how energy infrastructure is developed, owned, and reinvested into local energy-saving and poverty reduction schemes.

The project aims to provide vulnerable households with the knowledge and confidence to manage their energy use, reduce costs, and stay warm. They will guide households through practical energy-saving actions and provide them with simple measures they can install at home. Accredited energy advice will be delivered through the phone, email and face-to-face at two Citizens Advice offices and twelve outreach locations.

The team will support households to understand their bills and heating systems, help clients to resolve disputes with energy providers, and access emergency fuel top-up vouchers. They will also offer advice on maximising the benefits of time of day tariffs, solar panels and air source heat pumps.

Alongside delivering energy advice via the phone and emails, they will also attend and hold events offering small giveaways such as radiator keys to open up conversations around energy issues. 

Using Charis as their distribution partner, they will provide crisis funding for credit meter clients facing hardship as well as essential items to help people stay warm and safe at home during periods of energy crisis. Recognising that many in their area have wood-burning stoves and older boilers, they'll distribute carbon monoxide alarms alongside CO safety advice.

Their easy-to-read energy advice guides along with training for staff of partner organisations, volunteers and frontline workers will enable them to cascade knowledge and reach the most isolated and vulnerable residents. 

The project will support older people (mostly aged 75+) living in Wakefield’s deprived former mining and industrial communities, 97% of whom have long-term health conditions and 59% of whom live alone. Over two years they aim to identify older people in vulnerable situations in need of support and provide energy-saving advice to 2,370 older residents.

They aim to deliver light touch advice to 1,300 people and home visits by Energy Specialist Advisers to 800 energy consumers unable to leave home. Through 2-3 visits they’ll help older people reduce their bills by providing energy-saving advice, switching tariffs (if appropriate) and installing energy saving measures (LED lightbulbs/insulation). They also intend to deliver energy saving workshops at local venues. 

Through the project older people in vulnerable situations will be able to better afford to heat their homes.

This project aims to innovate energy advice by offering affordable, high-quality retrofit surveys through an online platform. Targeting the majority 'self-funding' segment—households deterred by current survey costs and therefore ending their retrofit journey before it’s started—this service will enable users to receive accurate retrofit surveys via smartphone or tablet.

Surveyors will guide clients remotely via a walkthrough of their property, capturing images and measurements of key features like insulation, heating, ventilation. This process ensures comprehensive data collection, enabling tailored recommendations without needing in-person visits. 

This approach removes significant cost and access barriers, making retrofit advice more affordable and scalable—especially those in harder-to-reach areas. Surveys will be priced below current market rates, with further cost reductions anticipated through operational efficiencies. 

Collaboration between Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) and Changeworks, two leading energy/retrofit charities in England and Scotland respectively, will provide a diverse testing ground, helping embed surveys across both nations. The project builds on CSE’s recent experience testing new lower cost surveys, including online. Market research shows these are more appealing due to their simplicity, expert guidance, and impartiality. 

By overcoming a key barrier - access to affordable, tailored energy advice - this project aims to drive behaviour change and retrofit uptake, creating a scalable model that could be adopted nationwide. 

Elderpark Housing Association, in partnership with Govan and Linthouse Housing Associations, will deploy innovative environmental monitoring technology to identify and support vulnerable households in the Greater Govan area, particularly elderly residents, families with young children, and those with health conditions who are struggling with fuel poverty. 

Environmental sensors will be installed in sample properties to monitor temperature, humidity, energy use, and air quality levels, providing objective evidence of heating adequacy. This technology will reveal the true extent of fuel poverty by identifying households where indoor temperatures consistently fall below healthy living standards. In addition, the team will gather quarterly feedback from the same households.

This data will inform and educate 400 vulnerable households who seek assistance from the Community Energy Team, and their interventions will be measured in terms of wellbeing, knowledge of managing the air quality in the home and energy savings. This will be supplemented with face-to-face and email/telephone advice reaching 1,620 households. 

The project will collaborate with Glasgow University Living Lab and the School of Health & Wellbeing to inform future policy and funding decisions around fuel poverty. 

They aim to support vulnerable households across rural East Riding and urban Hull. East Riding is a large rural area with over 152,000 households, high unemployment (24%), limited public transport, and mostly seasonal or low-paid work. Hull, by contrast, is a densely populated city of 115,500 households, with 27% unemployment and significant deprivation. Both areas rank among the most deprived in the UK. 

The project will address fuel poverty, energy debt, and barriers to advice through a mix of in-person outreach, home visits, and tailored workshops and telephone advice. 

As a trusted advice organisation in the area, they will deliver:

• Personalised energy advice, including energy efficiency and low-carbon technology.
• Support with energy debt and income maximisation.
• Run energy-themed workshops, including digital tools and literacy.
• Host drop-ins in community settings (GPs, libraries, food banks).
• Train partners and volunteers to provide peer support.
• Refer clients to wider advice services (e.g. debt, welfare, housing).

The project aims to improve the health and well-being of Greater Manchester residents living with health conditions by alleviating fuel poverty and creating healthier home environments. 

This project will help individuals and their families where a member has a pre-existing health condition, such as respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, or dementia, which is often worsened by a cold or damp home. Residents will be reached through trusted referral pathways, including their established Macmillan support services, dementia carer teams, and new partnerships with GPs and community health organisations.

They will deliver a dedicated and intensive energy casework service, providing holistic, one-to-one support. This includes in-depth advice on energy efficiency and debt, income maximisation, and hands-on assistance to access grants for essential heating and insulation measures. They will also provide training to health professionals and implement an innovative SMS referral platform to create a more integrated and responsive support system for those most in need. 

Ultimately, the project aims to deliver tangible benefits to vulnerable consumers by providing warmer, healthier, and more affordable homes.

The project is a collaborative service between the Wise Group and Inspire, Motivate, Overcome (IMO), combining their experience and expertise in energy focused mentoring. They aim to expand community and household energy support coverage, across Pendle, Burnley, Rossendale, Hyndburn and Preston. Together, they will assertively influence future decision making that leads to energy affordability and household’s ability to heat and be warm in their home. 

Through comprehensive energy mentoring, they will empower households disadvantaged by language, social and digital barriers to better manage their home energy journey. From fuel insecurity to energy stability, to understanding the benefits of emerging technologies to heat and insulate their homes. This will create a strong introduction to further their engagement and understanding of the energy transition, so they are not at risk of being left behind.

This project will be a first-of-its-kind, community-owned Virtual Power Plant (VPP) that will help homes, schools, and small businesses on the Isle of Wight lower their energy bills, reduce carbon emissions, and support the wider electricity grid. Led by Green Isle of Wight in partnership with the Centre for Energy Equality, the project will install between 0.5 and 1 megawatt of battery storage across 100–200 buildings. These smart batteries will store electricity when it’s cheaper or cleaner and release it when needed most — saving money for users and reducing pressure on the national grid during peak times. 

VIBE combines local ownership, smart digital coordination, and a fair, inclusive delivery model. An enhanced version of the Fairer Warmth digital platform (already used by 1,000+ islanders) will connect all batteries into a single, intelligent network. 

This Virtual Power Plant can trade electricity on national markets and provide flexibility services to grid operators — earning income that benefits the community. 

Many participants will receive batteries for free or at a reduced cost, depending on ability to pay. The project will also launch a community share offer, giving local people the chance to co-own the system and share in the financial returns. VIBE aims to improve energy security, reduce emissions, and keep value within the community — creating a scalable model for cleaner, fairer energy systems across the UK.