Thousands of households are already shifting their energy use to help balance the grid. They’re getting paid for it, learning about their energy consumption, and helping build a cleaner, more flexible energy system. But who’s taking part – and who’s facing challenges?

The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) has been investigating this question through CrowdFlex, the National Energy System Operator’s major trial testing how domestic flexibility can help manage the electricity grid.

Through extensive customer research and analysis to understand the experiences of people taking part, we’re using our findings to help shape flexibility services for the future that work well for different types of people and homes. We’ve heard from over 18,000 participants across multiple surveys. This comprehensive view reveals not just whether services work, but whether they work fairly – something we believe is crucial for ensuring people with certain characteristics or abilities aren’t left behind as the energy system evolves.

This is part of our work to ensure the energy transition works fairly for different types of households – because it only succeeds if everyone can participate.

This comprehensive view reveals not just whether services work, but whether they work fairly.

Deep research with real insights for CrowdFlex

Our social research approach combines scale with depth. We’ve gathered feedback from thousands of people and are now analysing this alongside actual electricity usage data to understand how different groups experience flexibility services. By linking people’s feedback with information about their homes, circumstances and their actual energy data, we can identify specific factors that influence effective participation and the barriers that get in the way.

By tracking the same customers over 18 months, we can see how attitudes and behaviours change over time. As domestic flexibility is essential to the clean and smart future energy system, this long-term view will provide insights into how people might take part in future, whether flexing becomes a habit, or people lose interest as the novelty wears off. It also helps us think about what support will be needed to help people unlock the benefits of flex – both to get cheaper energy in their homes and to support balancing the grid.

Alongside developing innovative research methods CSE is playing a vital role in bringing real customer insight into the heart of the project. By listening to people and using their feedback to shape smarter, more responsive energy services, we’re helping ensure this innovation-funded project delivers tangible benefits for end users. It’s a practical example of what the Strategic Innovation Fund is aiming for – innovation that empowers people and supports a fairer energy system. This kind of people-centred approach remains rare in the energy innovation space – and it’s something we believe should become the norm.

What we’re learning

Our summer 2024 analysis revealed encouraging signs as participation is building people’s confidence and awareness of energy issues. We also saw some unexpected findings such as more positive experiences reported by renters over homeowners. However, it also highlighted potential inequalities and system level challenges.

Our latest winter trial analysis builds on this and shows the complexity of delivering flexibility fairly. The vast majority report positive experiences and participants are increasingly engaged – becoming more environmentally conscious and embracing automation over the course of the trial. But we’ve identified some concerning patterns too as some groups already vulnerable in the energy system may be putting themselves at greater risk and require additional support.

For the first time in CrowdFlex we’ve also surveyed participants in the electric vehicle charging trial, exploring people’s experiences of making their car available to help balance the grid and how different characteristics impact on participation.

Findings are published now on the Energy Networks Association portal.

A smarter and fairer energy transition

The energy transition requires both speed and fairness. Through projects like CrowdFlex, CSE is working to ensure that as we build a smarter, more flexible energy system, we don’t create new forms of exclusion. Our findings will help shape flexibility services that work for everyone – because reaching net zero means bringing everyone along.

Click here to read blog from earlier this year about how flexibility services can be made more accessible and inclusive: Investigating lived experiences of energy flexibility.