Funded Energy Redress Projects

The Rural communities energy support network project will provide 4,350 vulnerable households across Somerset and Wiltshire with in-depth, tailored and end-to-end energy advice and support, alongside transforming the role of community-based organisations in both areas to build their capacity to deliver energy advice. They will work with local groups, charities and frontline workers, throughout Somerset and Wiltshire who support vulnerable people who need fuel poverty training and ongoing support to provide energy advice, rather than simply defaulting to a CSE referral, as well as existing referral organisations, they will work with local community infrastructure organisations engaging local VCSEs that they don’t have a referral relationship with who support our target groups and could provide significant additional local energy advice capacity.

The FiT for Solar Barnsley project is an innovative way to use existing domestic solar installations, coupled with the strength of community energy, to install more solar installations on tenanted homes, to help alleviate fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions in Barnsley. In 2013 Barnsley Council funded 310 domestic solar installations. These installations, via the Feed in Tariff, have repaid the initial capital. There is still 14 years left of FiT revenue for these installations. Since 2015 Energise Barnsley, a community energy benefit society, has partnered with Barnsley Council, to deliver further domestic and commercial solar installations, raising significant capital in community finance. The tenants receiving the solar installations will receive 100% free use of the solar generation, exactly the same as the tenants in 2013.The ‘recycling’ of FiT revenues, coupled with the strength of community energy to raise additional funding for new installations, is replicable nationally, where the local authority or landlord has paid for the initial installations and achieved its’ ‘pay back’ period.

Telford Energy Advice Phase 2 (TEA2) will continue to provide free, independent energy advice to vulnerable energy customers in the Telford & Wrekin Council (T&WC) area. The service will be run by Marches Energy Agency (MEA), with partnership support from Telford Crisis Support (TCS). There are over 11,500 fuel-poor households in the area, a figure which will rise significantly throughout the energy crisis. Funding will be an essential part of building a local, responsive service meeting the needs of vulnerable residents. Support will include tailored advice, in-depth casework support through home visits, detailed remote support, provision of low-cost energy efficiency measures, crisis support for those struggling in the short-term, drop-in advice at community hubs/events and finally, support to improve home energy efficiency including signposting to grant funding such as the T&WC Top-up Grant. TEA2 will continue to develop a strong network of referral partners across the third sector, working alongside organisations such as Telford Crisis Support and Age UK. TEA2 will train 400 frontline workers to increase understanding of fuel poverty among those supporting vulnerable people.

The Warm up North 2 project will support energy consumers in vulnerable situations by providing comprehensive and holistic energy advice targeted at people who are vulnerable because they are on a low income,  in or at risk of debt, or someone in the household has a health problem or disability that means they are more likely to suffer a substantial detriment as energy consumers. The project will deliver comprehensive energy advice together with  advice on related matters including welfare benefits and housing where appropriate  to ensure people are given holistic information and support that will bring long-lasting improvement to them as energy consumers and reduce their  vulnerability.

The Mid Devon Energy Partnership will tackle fuel poverty, underheated/energy inefficient homes, and related health issues in Mid Devon. Led by Churches Housing action team (CHAT), the project will partner with Exeter Community Energy (ECOE) to utilise their experience in delivering energy advice services to vulnerable households. The two organisations have existing relationships, presence and activities within communities across the district, by working together they will help more households to make energy efficiency and fuel savings advice/support. The project will provide 1-2-1-person centred advice and support, plus drop-in clinics, pop up events and community outreach in towns and villages across the district.

Working with 9 local authorities, 2 Fire and Rescue Services and local community organisations, our “Warm and Well” programme will raise awareness and provide new dedicated support to help struggling residents to better weather this Cost of Living Crisis". They will do this by helping them to reduce their energy demand (through measures and behaviour change), access any financial support available, understand and manage their fuel bills, and increase their confidence to participate in the energy market when price competition re-starts. They will support over 8,200 vulnerable households with telephone and face -to-face advice and casework support, train 132 front line and community staff, deliver 400 home visits, and create two regional forums to increase collaborative approaches to tackling the fuel crisis.

The Better Housing Better Health project will support vulnerable consumers at a crucial time, giving them access to high-quality energy advice, advocacy, and interventions across a large area of the East of England.  The project will be providing direct support to 10,000 households in vulnerable situations through a comprehensive engagement programme targeting deprived communities promoting NEF’s free-to-access ‘Better Housing Better Health’ service (BHBH) in several new areas. To enhance support available, NEF will conduct 500 in-home energy visits to those needing additional care and administer £180,000 of emergency funding to consumers in extreme energy hardship.  This will include funding to train 20 new ‘energy champions’ resulting in a further 10,000 vulnerable consumers being supported.  The project has been designed to provide an immediate response to the current ‘energy crisis’ and will benefit from all of NEF’s experience and expertise in supporting vulnerable energy consumers.

Groundwork will offer a ground-breaking, one-stop-shop energy service in Rochdale, Tameside and Bury as a precursor to GM wide delivery in future.

With no cap on individual appointments, an outreach presence in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, training local volunteers as energy champions, and using our expert knowledge of local community assets, this project builds resilience in communities and will make sustained change beyond the end of Ofgem funding.

Every conversation counts and being in people’s homes dealing with energy issues is a unique opportunity to provide other wrap-around services linked to health and wellbeing – including indoor air quality monitoring, digital inclusion, flood resilience in high risk areas, financial capability, water usage and linking people to local community assets.

Key objectives include:

1. Build on an existing network of frontline agencies to generate over 700 referrals
2. Install small energy measures in 520 vulnerable households.
3. Agree tailored action plans which document practical ways to reduce household energy usage and keep warm.
4. Provide support/advocacy to represent consumers’ needs in the energy market going the extra mile to resolve problems that we encounter.
5. Provide wrap-around services linked to health and wellbeing

Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme funding will pay for small energy measures in 520 households and creation of two key posts to carry out face-to-face home visits and outreach in the most disadvantaged areas, and to provide immediate triage support and advocacy to customers over the phone, tackling problems before a home visit is required.