Networked, fragmented, unequal: The emergent landscape of home energy advice provision in England

Stefan Bouzarovski, Lilia Karpinska, Katherine Sugar, Sławomir Smiech

This paper aims to interrogate the institutional, spatial, and social underpinnings of domestic energy advice in England.

Based on a custom-built database of 131 distinct energy advice providers, analysed via a range of statistical methods, we explore the geographic and organizational patterns of energy advice support—identifying who provides it, where it is offered, and the methods used for its delivery.

We also investigate the types of advice available, as well as their distribution and quality compared to existing forms of support and broader trends of material deprivation.

We find evidence of a highly networked ecosystem of actors, which is dominated by the third sector, is overwhelmingly urban, and is largely focused on a narrow set of provision mechanisms.

We conclude that the current configuration is partly exacerbating, rather than alleviating, existing social inequalities.

We identify a need for further policy and research on the topic, focusing on the national and sectoral integration of support mechanisms, and the strengthening of advice provision for areas and groups that require it the most.