We have a fully marketised system for energy retail based on the logic that competition between retailers will drive down prices.

With any fully marketised system, there are winners and losers: those who are market savvy will get the best deal, whilst the vulnerable tend to be the losers: those who are digitally excluded, who struggle with literacy, numeracy, or English language.

Or those who have mental health issues, chaotic or challenging life circumstances – all tend to get the worst deals.

In my view, energy advisors who provide:

– in-person
– locally connected
– one-to-one energy advice

are essential to any fully marketised energy retail system

The Warm Home’s Plan envisages a national digital energy advice service.

In my opinion, this would not meet the needs of the most vulnerable consumers: only locally embedded community groups can do that.

The advantage of organisations like South East London Community Energy (Selce) providing energy advice is also that we can top up grant funding with surplus from our community-financed solar or LED projects.

This means can keep on working with a vulnerable client until we’ve properly supported them. Since our solar and LED work consists of long-term projects, this provides us with resilience in the face of uncertain grant funding.

However, some of our key funders of energy advice (and in particular the DNOs) have slashed the funding available for fuel poverty alleviation, leaving community groups struggling to find a way to fund their services and keep those skilled experience knowledgeable energy advisors in employment.

In the hiatus between the end of ECO4 and the beginning of any grant funded retrofit programmes for vulnerable clients announced in the Warm Homes Plan, there is also no funding to pay for essential retrofit for vulnerable clients.

Thanks to Sarah Burgess of Grand Union Community Energy for the photos.