A total of £3 million is available as grants to charities and community energy groups that support households most at risk from cold homes and high energy bills, or that work on innovation and carbon emissions reduction across England, Scotland and Wales.

Ofgem’s enforcement and compliance activity collects voluntary payments from companies that may have breached Ofgem-administered rules. Energy Saving Trust has been managing the allocation of payments for the Scheme which has been in place for four years. The priorities of the scheme are to support energy consumers in vulnerable situations, develop innovative products or services and empower consumers to reduce their carbon emissions.

To December 2022, the Energy Redress Scheme has funded 404 projects across England, Scotland and Wales and awarded over £55.8m in funding. The projects have included:

• Impartial energy advice services supporting vulnerable people
• Digital media to engage (hard-to-reach) audiences with energy issues and the support that is available to them
• Research projects aimed at ensuring that the needs of elderly people and people with disabilities are met by new energy technologies
• Boosting the supply chain of retrofit professionals and uptake of whole-house retrofits.
• Trialling new business models or interventions to enable households to use more locally generated energy

Charities can apply for grants to deliver energy-related projects through four different funding streams. Funding is also open to community energy groups – including community interest companies, co-operative societies and community benefit societies – who can apply to either the Carbon Emissions Reduction Fund or the Innovation Fund.

• The Main Fund contains £1.9m - aimed at projects seeking grants between £50,000 and £300,000 that will support households in vulnerable situations.
• The Small Project Fund contains £200,000 – aimed at projects seeking grants between £20,000 to £49,999 that will support households in vulnerable situations.
• The Innovation Fund contains £450,000 – aimed at projects that will develop innovative products or services to benefit households. Applicants can apply for grants between £20,000 to £200,000
• The Carbon Emissions Reduction Fund contains £450,000 – aimed at projects that will reduce UK carbon emissions and empower households to reduce their carbon footprint. Applicants can apply for grants between £20,000 to £200,000

1161 organisations are already registered with the Energy Redress Scheme and can apply to the open rounds.

Organisations that have not yet registered with the scheme must do so 10 working days before the closure of the relevant Fund to allow time for eligibility checks to take place.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on 30 January 2023.

Graham Ayling, senior project manager for the Energy Redress Scheme, said: “We are pleased to be able to offer this new funding to support the crucial work of the voluntary sector in supporting people struggling to heat their homes at this difficult time.”