We’re thrilled to share our 2024-25 impact report, showcasing a year of support championing the needs of those worst served by the energy market.

Last year saw change sweep over the energy policy landscape with 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. And fewer than 200,000 homes (just 1%) 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 our community support. And we focused our research and policy influence work on addressing the energy market’s inherent inequalities.

Watch our video summary or download the full report

Average household savings doubled to over £1,000

Our energy advice delivered transformational results this year. Average household savings for people who called our advice line more than doubled from £525 to £1,106, whilst we supported a similar number of households (22,593 compared to around 22,000 last year). This meant total savings soared from £11.5m to £25m – demonstrating both the depth and scale of our impact.

Our support means people are accessing advice, help and funding that, often, has immediate financial impact and reduces stress. We’ve also been able to install 144% more energy efficiency measures this year. These measures not only save people money but provide a long-term solution to reduce energy loss.

Accelerating impact towards 2030

The government’s ambitious mission to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030, scale up the community energy sector and invest billions into retrofitting homes has opened significant doors for influence.

But ambitious targets mean nothing without smart implementation – and that’s where CSE’s expertise across the whole energy system becomes invaluable. There’s a risk that energy inequality will get worse during the energy transition. That’s why it’s so important that we continue to demonstrate how inclusion, fairness, housing retrofit, and community action are all essential solutions for successful transformation to a lower cost, decarbonised energy system.

Over the last year, CSE has made significant strides to improve how we show up in these areas, at household, community, and government levels. We’ve delivered more advice and casework than ever before, engaged tens of thousands in research to understand barriers to smart energy adoption, advocated for energy efficiency measures in homes and community buildings and supported more communities to take action on climate change and fuel poverty. At the same time, we’ve increased our ability to respond to important consultations that can shape improvements at scale.

We’re committed to maintaining this momentum throughout the next financial year.

Dive deeper

Read the full report for detailed insights into our six work programmes and how we’re creating a green, smart and fair energy system for everyone.

The year in numbers

22,593
People supported by our freephone energy advice service.

£1,106*
Average saving per household for people who called our advice line.

£25 million*
Saved by our clients following our advice. Includes benefits claimed, measures installed (such as insulation and new heating systems), fuel vouchers distributed, and much more.

55
Climate action plans written.

755
Young people reached through our high-quality education and youth leadership programmes.

30,462
Survey responses received in our research to understand demand flexibility services.

925
Community organisations supported to take action on climate change or tackling fuel poverty.

5,849
Energy efficiency measures installed as a result of our help.

£1.9m
In grants distributed to 132 community organisations enabling them to drive community focused energy projects reaching over 21,000 people.

*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.