The transition involves not only shifting our energy use away from fossil fuels such as oil and gas and towards more renewables and more electric heating, but also changing how and when we use our energy. The energy system needs us to interact with our energy usage in radically different ways to before, by shifting our usage to off-peak periods and engaging with smart products and services to maximise our benefits. ologies will increase demand for specialised advice.

This represents significant and disruptive change: new kit, new tariffs, new services. These new services risk being accessible only to certain groups – like homeowners or digitally confident consumers. An example might be a tariff that provides cheaper night-time electricity to well-off households with an electric vehicle than to a struggling household with night storage heaters. So, how can we help those in vulnerable circumstances or in fuel poverty to keep up with the changes, and even benefit from them?

Make sure no one gets left behind with SMEAPS

Since 2022, CSE has been pioneering the Smart Energy Action Plan (SMEAPS) service, through which we deliver tailored advice for vulnerable customers to help ensure they are not excluded from this transition. Our approach is anchored in our learnings from the Smart & Fair research programme, which identified the core “capabilities” required of a consumer by a smarter, greener energy system. These capabilities include things like having a smart meter, digital skills and access, or understanding the principles of shifting usage away from peak periods, or a basic knowledge of low carbon tech.

Through Smart Energy Action Plans, our advisors look to:

• Build a picture of the client’s needs, priorities and capabilities
• Improve the client’s understanding of the changing energy system, including help develop their smart energy capabilities
• Help clients understand any low-carbon or renewable technologies they may already have, and how to make the most of these.

Specialised and trusted smart energy advice is more important than ever, following the focus on low-carbon technology set out by Warm Homes Plan.

Using smart energy advice to unlock retrofit impacts

Thanks to SMEAPS, CSE has been able to plug a crucial gap for clients going through grant-funded retrofit works, particularly when they’re getting low-carbon technologies installed. Our freephone advice line used to field countless queries from residents who had had air source heat pumps or solar panels installed but were seeing no reduction in their energy bills and no improvement in their comfort. Now, these clients are referred to our SMEAPS advisors, who can help them understand how to use their heat pump controls, shift their electricity usage to use as much of their solar generation as possible, how to sign up to export tariffs, and which heat pump or time-of-use tariffs might be suitable for them.

We also actively work with local authorities, social housing providers and installers to support their customers who are going through a retrofit journey, whether that’s through in-depth telephone advice, a home visit or a bespoke advice pack.

A critical need for impartial, reliable and high-quality advice

Karn Shah is managing this service for CSE. He says, “The range of smart energy offers on the market and the ways that products, services and tariffs interact with each other can be bewildering for many customers. There is a critical need for impartial, reliable and high-quality advice so that they are not excluded.

“Through SMEAPS, we are exploring how energy advice organisations such as CSE can meet this challenge and ensure no-one gets left behind in the smart energy transition .”

You can read more about the SMEAPS pilot in our blog here.