New report highlights need to connect clean energy with household affordability

The Committee on Fuel Poverty has published its 2026 Annual Report, Warm. Affordable. Fair., setting out the progress made in reducing fuel poverty in England and the scale of the challenge that remains.

Low income households spent an average of 14.9 per cent of their residual income on energy during 2025, more than twice the proportion spent by a typical household.

Local delivery and measurable results

The report calls for fuel poverty programmes that are properly targeted, locally delivered and capable of demonstrating quality, scale and value for money.

It recommends a central delivery role for local authorities and highlights the need for better data sharing between energy companies, councils, housing providers, health services and third sector organisations.

The Committee argues that improved access to neighbourhood level information could help programmes identify vulnerable households more accurately and avoid the poor targeting that has affected some previous energy efficiency schemes.

This local partnership model is central to EnergyCloud’s work in England.

EnergyCloud works with housing organisations, community partners and the energy sector to develop solutions that make productive use of surplus renewable electricity, which might otherwise be curtailed, with a primary focus on alleviating fuel poverty.

Making flexibility accessible

The Committee also considers the opportunities and risks associated with smart tariffs and low carbon heating.

It cautions that time of use tariffs should not automatically be assumed to benefit vulnerable households. Such arrangements can require residents to understand changing prices and actively alter when they use electricity.

Importantly, the report recognises that automation can remove this burden.

Complementing warmer homes

The Committee remains strongly committed to a fabric first approach. It argues that insulation and the thermal performance of a home must remain central to any lasting strategy for eliminating fuel poverty.

EnergyCloud supports this position.

EnergyCloud is not intended to replace insulation, retrofit, income support or other essential measures. It complements these interventions by creating an additional way for vulnerable households to benefit from renewable electricity and by improving the relationship between household energy demand and periods of abundant clean generation.

The test for any intervention must be the difference it makes for households. For EnergyCloud, this means measuring the electricity delivered, the financial value received by residents and the contribution made to useful heat and hot water.

EnergyCloud England will continue to work with local authorities, housing providers, energy companies and community organisations to ensure that households experiencing energy hardship can participate in, and benefit from, the transition to a cleaner and more flexible electricity system.

The Committee on Fuel Poverty’s 2026 Annual Report is available on the UK Government website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/committee-on-fuel-poverty-annual-report-2026