The priorities of the Energy Saving Trust's Energy Redress Scheme, which has a budget of £23 million to allocate, are to:
1. Deliver benefits to the types of consumers that were negatively impacted by the specific issues that triggered the redress payment, and
2. Support energy consumers in vulnerable situations.
In addition to these priorities, up to 15% of Energy Redress funds can support the development of innovative products and services related to energy. Innovation projects must:
1. Have a realistic prospect of delivering benefits to existing and/or future energy consumers, and
2. Help to reduce the environmental impact of energy use and be efficiently managed and provide good value for money.
The following funding is available:
o Small Project Fund - grants of between £20,000 and £49,999 for projects that will support energy consumers in vulnerable situations.
o Main Project Fund - grants of between £50,000 and £2 million for projects that will support energy consumers in vulnerable situations.
o Innovation Fund - grants of between £50,000 and £1 million for projects that will develop innovative products or services to benefit energy consumers. The funder is particularly looking for innovative projects that will:
> Test or trial the roll-out of products or services that are ready to implement but not yet accessible to energy consumers or certain groups of energy consumers, and/or
> Conduct research or analysis into the development of products or services not yet accessible to energy consumers or certain groups of energy consumers.
Grants can be used for capital or revenue funding and can provide up to 100% of the project cost. Projects lasting up to 2 years can be funded.
The Energy Redress Scheme can fund the following types of project (please note that this is not an exclusive list):
o Delivering energy advice that does not duplicate existing advice services
o Engaging vulnerable customers with energy issues and referring them for support
o Installation of energy saving or renewable energy measures that cannot be funded elsewhere and/or are innovative or are being used in innovative ways, and
o Training and education on energy that is targeted at supporting vulnerable customers.
Further information, guidance and details about how to apply are available on the Energy Saving Trust website.
The application process is as follows:
1. Organisations wishing to access the Scheme should complete an online information form so that the Energy Saving Trust can check whether they are eligible to apply.
2. Charities that meet the initial criteria will be notified and will be emailed a link to create an account, through which they can apply for all subsequent rounds of the scheme..
3. When funds become available, eligible charities will be notified to use their online account to apply for funds (the latest round of the Energy Redress Scheme is currently open to applications).
The next application deadline is 5pm on Monday 6th June 2022. Applicants are usually notified whether their application has been successful within 2 months of the application deadline.
