We’re addressing the climate emergency, tackling the root causes of fuel poverty, and ensuring a fair, inclusive transition to a net zero energy system that benefits everyone.

Over the last year, we’ve seen changes across the energy policy landscape. There’s a new government committed to driving forward clean power and net zero, and securing more public ownership in our energy system.

Yet millions of UK households continued to struggle to afford their energy bills. More than one in five found themselves in fuel poverty, and fuel debt reached a record level of £4bn. Meanwhile, only 1% of homes received government-backed energy efficiency upgrades.

Against this backdrop, CSE sharpened its household advice services to provide more tailored fuel poverty and retrofit support. We scaled up community support. And we focused our research and policy influence work on addressing the energy market’s inherent inequalities.

The impact of CSE’s work can be life-changing for a household and transformational for a community.

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The way we produce and use energy needs to change. It’s one of the main causes of the climate emergency. At the same time, millions of people in the UK face the harsh reality of cold homes which threatens their health and wellbeing.

Our work spans the breadth of the energy transition challenge, from supporting individuals in fuel poverty to empowering communities and advising local authorities and national policy. We’re advancing housing energy retrofit, championing future generations, promoting fairness in the energy transition, and offering expert advice on energy efficiency and renewables.

Through innovative research, policy advocacy work, and practical tools, we tackle the complex challenges of climate change and fuel poverty from every angle. Undoubtedly, our work is paving the way for a more sustainable, smarter and fairer energy system.

• Provided energy advice and casework to more households than ever, supporting 22,593 people.
• Secured financial savings worth more than £25m for our clients, averaging £1,106 per household. This is more than double what we achieved last year.
• Facilitated the installation of 144% more energy efficiency measures, compared to the previous year.
• Enabled 925 community organisations to take action on climate or fuel poverty.
• Influenced national policy for fairer energy practices.
• Engaged tens of thousands of people in research to better understand barriers to energy services.

*Financial savings are based on recorded data of the real financial savings achieved for each of our advice clients in one year (2024-25 alone). They exclude future years impacts e.g. savings made over the lifetime of the energy efficiency measures installed.

• Beneficiaries – we record and evaluate the number of people we’ve supported through our advice service and community support programmes as well as the financial savings achieved by our advice line clients.
• Innovation – we keep track of the new approaches and methods CSE has developed, introduced or pioneered and the outcomes, or changes this influences.
• Support and tools – we assess how widely our tools and resources are used and the real-world impact they create. We measure the effectiveness of our plans, studies and research by how they empower organisations and individuals to make informed decisions and drive meaningful change.
• Policy and learning – we monitor CSE’s influence on national policy and the practical changes we bring about. We record our active engagement, policy consultations and insights shared based on our research and direct engagement with individuals and communities.

Since CSE was founded in 1979, we have:

• Provided high-quality, tailored energy advice to more than 400,000 local people to help them take control of their energy use at home.
• Trained and supported more than 76,000 people to empower them to take action on sustainable energy within their own organisations and communities across the UK.
• Reached approximately 58,000 young people with our high-quality education and youth leadership programmes. In particular, we help them become influential energy activists in their own homes, communities and schools. 
• You can read more about our history here.